


End Game

by Extraordinaire



Series: Adventures of Illidan and Leo [1]
Category: World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft: Legion - Fandom
Genre: Don't say I didn't warn you, F/M, Gen, Read at Own Risk, World of Warcraft: Legion, not canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-01-04 08:24:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 45
Words: 45,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21194603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Extraordinaire/pseuds/Extraordinaire
Summary: Illidan has more support from the worgen who killed him than he could have guessed.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> READ AT OWN RISK. 
> 
> NOT canon. Story takes place mainly between main quests in the Argus chapters of Legion.
> 
> UPDATE: Finally got the Illidan book!! WOOHOO! Details of Demon Hunters have been adjusted accordingly (thankfully I was not far off!) I have also changed the location of the scar given by Arthas to between the book's and the cinematic's location.

“What have you done?” Archmage Khadgar tore his eyes from the from the fel-burned planet now exposed by a flaming halo. _Not just a portal home._ It was as if the crystal Illidan activated burned through so hot and twisted the hole became an open door to Space and Kil’jaeden’s grave.

Illidan ignored Khadgar’s glare. “Sometimes the hand of fate must be forced.” The fel-scarred night elf did not share the Archmage’s concern. His forehead stretched and long ears perked; Illidan was eager.

Considering his urgency to employ demons in the past, it was not hard to see to the Archmage’s position. An enemy was not dead yet when Illidan used the Burning Legion’s weapon to achieve his own agenda. No time to recuperate before ramming head-first into the next battle.

“You didn’t think to consult with us first? Kil’jaeden still had breath! _And why am I surprised?”_ Khadgar threw up his hands and turned away. “Not like you haven’t betrayed anyone before.” He groaned with drooping shoulders. “Maiev was right. Wasn’t she?”

Illidan’s brows narrowed his burning eyes behind the blindfold. “I betrayed no one. We all knew where this would lead.” He turned his head to glance at the silent draenei prophet, Velen, behind them. “It is why _he’s_ not surprised to see his burning world.”

“Kil’jaeden wounded us! Our forces need time to heal before we plunge head-first into another battle! Especially on a world flooded with fel!” The Archmage held a different view of victory than Illidan did. Khadgar did not have the luxury of immortality like Illidan; he had to consider his fellow mortals.

“That’s Argus?” a rough, raspy voice asked. In the sudden shock of the portal opening above their heads, Commander Leopoldanna was almost forgotten. She did not resemble the other Alliance leaders Illidan had met, let alone the only worgen he knew. Wolfish features revealed little of the human she once was, though no one present had known her then. The curse changed voice as well, giving the impression a growling attack dog had learned to speak. A curse that gave her kind resilience in combat. She was one of the few not needing relief. Wounded as always due to her risky tactics, but recovering quick enough to fight on.

“That is Argus,” Illidan confirmed.

Khadgar growled a profane word straight from Dalaran’s shady Underbelly. “Unlike you, Illidan, I have troops to heal. Give us at least an hour, _please_, before you drag us into another fel cesspool.” With another utter under his breath, the Archmage summoned a smaller, local - less dangerous - portal and allowed it to swallow him up.

Illidan met Velen’s gaze before the Prophet followed Khadgar. He did not doubt Velen wished words as well, but Illidan saw through his silence: Velen did not speak his mind when he needed to inspire war, and he suffered inside for it. Unlike Khadgar, Velen had seen what waiting too long to fight the Legion’s power cost. Kil’jaeden was proof enough.

“That was the stone you sought,” Commander Leo did not ask. Illidan was surprised she remembered. She was one of few who never questioned him.

“It was.” He turned his head when he felt her enduring gaze. Looking at her was always uncomfortable: the Huntmaster came to his waist at her peak height. It strained his neck. Leo was taller than the human, at least.

“Are you sure you’re ready for that?” If not for the feminine curve her beast torso retained, it was easy to forget she was female. Illidan often called her Huntmaster or Commander to prevent any misunderstandings when she wore armor. Far easier when she chose robes.

She was the one who retrieved his soul from Helya’s realm. Destroyed the maiden of afterlife’s prison so Illidan could return to his body. Leo had done the dirty work, so others treated him as her responsibility.

She was also the one who killed him years ago. He would never forget that moment; first time he also saw a worgen. The conflict in Outland led Leo to rescue the Warden leader, Maiev; Illidan’s Jailer after the Legion’s first invasion. Together, they _confronted_ him - Maiev’s words - atop his fortress, the Black Temple. Their assault on his fortress found Illidan at a disadvantage: he'd had a vision - one that would redeem him of a past that lost him the trust of his childhood best friend Tyrande, the woman who held his heart; now the leader of their people _alongside his twin brother._ What branded him _Betrayer_ was his desperation to end the Burning Legion, and the revelation before the Black Temple battle stunned Illidan. Made him weak with hope and longing, with regret. Maiev wounded him, and Leo made the finishing blow. Leo was the reason Helya captured his soul, and she was the reason Illidan escaped Helya’s clutches.

He could not read Leo’s intentions. But she kept the Wardens - Maiev in particular - at bay by influencing Khadgar, and pushed for Illidan to guide them through the Legion’s tactics.

He watched Leo in battle at times; ferocious as he could ask of a warrior. Illidan even fought alongside her once. He was grateful a soldier such as her chose to be his ally… even if she sometimes tried to counsel him. Like now.

“We don’t have time to wait while Khadgar attends to his soldiers one by one.”

“I don’t mean him.” Worgen faces were impossible to read unless they were attacking. “Not even _you_ can survive that much fel, should the worst happen. The others will die quicker. You may be the only one left before long.”

“Not if you continue ordering them to heed my advice.”

If hounds could scoff. The Commander slid her long blade down her back into its sheathe with a lopsided, toothy grin. Talons to rival Illidan’s clicked and scraped on studs and hide. “They’ll learn quick otherwise. We don’t _all_ die to resurrect again.”

“You and I do.”

“Unless you’re giving them lessons, forget it. I am too busy training my bloodgrazer hatchling to teach them how to survive death.” The _Commander_ and her passion for _pets._ She waved him off and started away.

“Where are _you_ going?” The last thing he needed was for the closest thing he had for an ally to leave on the verge of battle. Not that his followers, the remaining loyal Illidari, would leave him to the mercy of mortals. But few regarded his Illidari as other than war fodder.

“To find a space goat.”

“Do you mean _scapegoat?”_

“No, a space goat.” The Commander looked back as she unhooked a ley-woven carpet from under her cloak. _“Draenei.”_

Illidan almost laughed. A remarkable analogy, if he was honest. _Space goat._ Horns and all. He would never forget it now.

“They’re the only ones who will have a ship to get through that.” Leo jerked her furry head toward the rift in the sky. Her gaze drifted into oblivion with a shake to wake her enchanted carpet. “I wonder if they _taste_ like goat?” Like uncontrollable hunger always on her mind.

Illidan snorted. “Let me know how that works out for you.” He stretched the massive limbs at his back and gave a flap that rose him from the ground. The violet carpet and its tassels waved in his wind. “Do what you can to bring Khadgar to his senses. I will track down Velen. If I don’t find you again, meet us at the Exodar.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> READ AT OWN RISK.

The Exodar was overrun. Once a clean, shimmering light-forged ship disguised as teeming, sheltered city, now it embodied a Legion invasion. Charred corpses littered the floor, still aflame with fel fire that needed no fuel to burn. Green stains of sparking fel bled around portals. Cursed hounds stalked in packs, running from quarter to quarter to sniff out leftover prey. Wounded demons patrolled with the others with no other indication of fresh scars other than sticky footprints in glowing splashes of green blood. The Exodar’s pink and golden glow along landmarks faded beneath the flaming poison. And with so many giant, winged, horned creatures stomping about, it was hard to find Illidan.

  
Archmage Khadgar and Commander Leo had hoped to join the Illidari master in battle while Velen held the arcane shield and summoned a teleporter within. But by the time they felled enough Legion forces and rescued survivors, the demons had grown desperate and began their march on land around the Exodar. They had not been able to reap Illidan’s prowess against the fiends. They had to find Prophet Velen and his arcane shield to even recognize Illidan among the demons.

  
“We should go now!” Illidan shouted, closing his wings in air to drop down on a preoccupied painbringer converging on the shield. Talons held the face steady while his warglaive sliced through. A glimpse at last at the skill he would lend on the draenei home world. “Their attention is fixed on Azeroth, _our time is now!”_

  
“What of the mages still outside?” Archmage Khadgar asked, strengthening Velen’s shield. “I realize you hold sacrifice in great regard, Illidan, but-”

  
“Illidan is right,” Velen interjected for once. “Their distraction provides an opportunity we did not have a moment ago. We may yet gain the upper hand.”

  
Disagreement was set aside to keep advantage. With a feeling of weightlessness, of separation and consciousness of it yet no sensation of pain, those living gave way to the Light and materialized outside Azeroth’s atmosphere to the functioning sister ship, the Vindicaar. Feet, hooves, and paws took form again on solid ground in breathable air with a flush of tingling senses. The draenei and the light-forged demon Lothraxion were the only ones unaffected by the sensation. While the elves and the worgen took a moment to regain their bearings, the draenei went right to work coordinating with those already on the Vindicaar.

  
“All forces are accounted for, Prophet. The Vindicaar will reach Argus soon. The transporter will be ready when we arrive,” Grand Artificer Romuul informed.

  
“Good.” Velen expected such action already. “We must find the Army of the Light. Lock on their signatures. Then, our invasion begins.”

  
Heavy hooves began a descent from the loft. Illidan took slow steps, ensuring each drew the Prophet’s attention. Veiled in the shadows, his tattoos looked almost alive. The searing poison still in his eye sockets, otherwise hidden by a blindfold, glowed amid shade as if Illidan would demonstrate his eye beams. Blindfolded, yet he could see. He saw all before him, and everything the Burning Legion touched. He stared to make a point, or see through the Legion; those who did not understand turned away. Illidan held Velen’s stare so long the Artificer excused himself in discomfort.

  
“Does he understand,” Illidan began as Romuul disappeared from sight, “what you _truly_ ask of him?” Illidan doubted. The draenei had lost their home twice over, and still did not know true sacrifice. Most of them remembered Argus when it still bloomed with draenei civilization. Those who remembered would only see their invasion as reclaiming the homeland. So focused on removing the Legion from their home, they blinded themselves to the risks, the sacrifices that would need to be made. “Do _any_ of them?” Illidan wondered how many remembered when Prophet Velen sacrificed countless other Draenei lives the day he fled Argus.

  
“I do not ask my people what you expect of yours,” Velen challenged. “We follow the Light. We value _life,_ not results. The Light guided us then, as it does now.”

  
Illidan studied him a moment before turning with a huff. To think some people could not see - refuse to see - sacrifice was the same as salvation, led to salvation, it made him laugh. An obvious action; none could have one without the other.

Amusement stayed on his face as he started down again. “Faith is your weakness. It always has been,” he reminded Velen. “You did nothing to stop your closest allies from falling into darkness. Instead you prayed to the Light to save your people. You fled, and convinced yourself it was the Light’s will.” Illidan shook his head. “And those allies flourished in fel from your lack of action, welcoming the Legion. _You failed your people,_ Velen.” His hooves stopped near the old prophet. “You could have stopped them, could have fought to save them, to save your world. But you chose not to. _Your inaction_ failed your _people.”_ He wanted this leader to see choice - even the least difficult - required heavy weighing of future results. If they did the same now as Velen did then, Azeroth would forever burn with fel corruption.

  
Velen glared. “Khadgar is right about _some_ things, Illidan.”

  
“Only some?”

  
“You would sacrifice _everyone_ to achieve victory. The way to triumph is not always about what we are willing to give up to win. It can also be preserving life _out_ of harm’s way.”

  
“At what cost for those you left behind? How many died as distraction so you could escape? Their sacrifice did not have to be in vain.”

  
The wizened lines on Velen’s face hardened and he brought the foot of his staff down. “You will _never_ understand what I did to _save_ my people.”

  
“Your faith did not stop the Legion’s fires while you prospered on Azeroth. Face it, Prophet. The Light has held you back, even now as we approach the ruins of your world. It no longer serves you to leave your fate up to faith.” Illidan paused long enough to draw Velen’s hard gaze. “It is _time_ to forge your _own_ path.”

  
The old draenei’s eyes narrowed in response.

  
“Prophet.” The Grand Artificer approached. Romuul gave Illidan a cautious glance before informing Velen: “We are ready.”

  
Velen paused as voices joined them. Archer Vereesa Windrunner and the worgen Commander complained of tingling from the transport. Leo’s claws clanked on the floor like fancy shoes.

  
“Proceed,” Velen approved.

  
“You arrived just in time,” Illidan greeted his chaperone, arms still over his chest.

  
“We’re there? We’ll need to use the transport again. _Great._ I _need_ to vomit more,” Leo staggered to a wall with a paw at her middle. Jokes were always more comical from a raspy worgen.

  
Illidan smirked. “That would be counter-productive.” Her satire was refreshing, at least. Quite a different game if no one cracked a line of humor, even if times called for solemnity. It was not Illidan’s first choice in war, but if the draenei did not gather their senses soon, they would all run out of time for laughter. He also appreciated her determination on the battlefield reflected his own. Amusing when she could afford it, savage when necessary; two sides of a needed coin. At least one person he could count on in this final battle. Even if her presence was the only reason he could see his mission to the end.

  
The Vindicaar dismissed Light travel and paused in the air of Argus. Breath stole from most on board. As harsh as the fel flames looked from Azeroth, it was worse up close. From afar, they could not see continents had ripped from the planet and now floated like desolate, perverted clouds. Fel rivers emptied into fel lakes that emptied into fel far below. Bare land of the broken continents lay charred and chipped. The Legion had scarred mountains into foreboding razors from below. Few traces of natural green and bold blues and pinks painted a distant region, but the Legion had destroyed everything else. It was a miracle the planet’s core still held intact to keep the continents in atmosphere.  
Illidan did not pity the draenei looking upon their ruined world. _This_ was why they needed to fight the Legion _at all costs._

  
“Where,” he challenged, feeling his argument proven, “is your Army of the Light?”

  
The draenei Prophet did not have time to answer. Like a blinding horizon rose a golden ship akin to the Vindicaar. So clean from fel corruption, it held Illidan’s tongue. He did not expect a single body untainted.

  
“The Xenedar!” Velen’s countenance changed with the sudden beacon of hope.

  
Praise of vantage given too soon. The Xenedar moved faster than a rendezvous ship should travel. Like it was chased.

“Something is wrong.” Prophet indeed: the second his voice stopped, a massive Legion gate swelled with energy.

  
“What is that?” Leo pressed against the shield, neck craned as wolf eyes tried to peer closer.

  
Her answer came too soon. Every eye on the Vindicaar watched as a fel burst raced like a goblin missile right for the Xenedar. In a blink, the golden, radiating ship rocked off balance in fire and smoke and began to fall.  
Velen couldn’t tear his eyes from his last shred of hope. The Army of the Light was on there. They were supposed to advise and direct. The Naaru - the god-like being of Light - on the Xenedar was supposed to save them! But now…

  
A nightmare come to life. So tragic for the draenei not even a gasp sounded.

  
Leo whirled from the window. “_Do_ something!” she told Velen.

  
The Prophet stood in shattered hope, silent. About to accept impending doom.

  
“Velen, _do_ something! Retaliate or get down there!” Leo commanded. “Our contacts are burning, _do something_!”

  
“Prophet, we must help them!” Romuul’s urgency brought Velen back to the moment. “What are your orders?”

  
Illidan glared. His eyes narrowed as Velen matched his stare. Would this leader do what was right for once? Or cower away like before? This time, the draenei Naaru was at stake, as was the planet’s best defense against the Legion.

  
Illidan dropped a prominent nod to encourage Velen. It was time to act; the last chance Velen had to correct his mistakes and save what remained of draenei history.

  
Velen’s lines deepened with a scowl with a stamp of his staff. Eyes on the burning ship, facing his suppressed anger for once. “Get us down there. We make our stand _today!”_

  
_At last._ After so long, Illidan could now finish what he started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I know events are out of order. It fits with my story. Piss off.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> READ AT OWN RISK.

“Warn me if you vomit,” Illidan said as his chaperone stumbled from the portal and shook tingling limbs.

  
Wolfish gums bared fangs to rival his own. Leo dropped to all fours with a snarl. “Stay off land and you won’t worry.” Unable to joke with spilt blood so near, it seemed.

  
“I can’t fly forever. It’s more a glide.”

  
“Then build more muscle so you can stay out of my way.”

  
Illidan couldn’t help a laugh. He was already thrice her size.

  
With a growl, Leo bounded head-on to the clash of battle around the bend. Reckless as usual in a fight already.

  
Battle on Argus was nothing like Broken Shore. Even the strongest lieutenants at each invasion point never compared to the tainted eredar warriors where the Legion mastered corruption. Fel hounds and nathrezim were the least worries here. Here, tainted eredar -ancestors of the draenei corrupted by demons and power - controlled the planet like it bathed in fel since creation. Hounds were little more than fel-soaked remains held together by magic and felt no pain; Illidan had no better words for them than burning fiends. Ered’ruin, Mo’arg, and Doomguard - mutants of poison - spent every moment keeping portals open for new demons to advance, or creating new weapons. Champions and overseers of Felsiege weapons that tore creatures apart worse than acid and magma. Weapons that corrupted what used to be magma and turned globs of it into vessels for demon souls to possess. To step in this demonic blood was to flirt with death. _Elite_ and _lethal_ was an understatement on Argus.

  
Illidan spent more time intervening on close calls than scouting for the weapon that shot the Xenedar down. He lost count how many times he yanked draenei from the clamor and dropped them back at the portal. It did no good to tell this naive people not to underestimate the eredar warriors, no matter how many genes the draenei once shared with them.

  
He wished he could continue his quest alone and let the Light-mutated demon be the hero. Lothraxion strutted as such anyway.

  
Illidan descended again to pull his chaperone from a sizzling puddle of fiend blood and the hard swing of a towering conqueror. The fel beams from Illidan’s eyes burned and awakened his tattoos every time.

  
He touched ground and turned as the elite monstrosity fell. “I said do _not_ engage them alone!” At least the third time he’d told her. The apparent downside to her feral side was logic often flew like wind above her in battle.

  
Commander Leo, bleeding from furry ankles and fingertips where she used her claws instead of sword, snarled. “Do you see anyone else going after them?” A splash of fel blood on her face burned hair and flesh when she wiped, drawing a yelp of pain.

  
Illidan sighed. She had a point. He glanced around before soaring a stretch away. Before the Conqueror could turn in defense, Illidan let his eyes burn, and so his tattoos, till the demon’s head came off.

  
“There.” He dropped the corpse at Leo’s feet. _“Now_ you may engage it alone.”

  
He swore she grimaced. “My _hero.”_

  
“Your secret is safe with me.”

  
With a roll of her eyes, Leo threw herself back in battle as if she was there all along. As if Illidan never warned her.

  
Illidan fought the urge to criticize, and took to stale air before he needed to intervene again. He would accomplish little on this planet if he had to keep saving his chaperone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't say I didn't warn you.


	4. Chapter 4

Too long had passed when they cleared the expanse and found the weapon that fired on the Xenedar. With no sunrise or sunset, there was no way to tell how much time they wasted; how much time _Illidan _wasted saving others from fate. Illidan saw the fallen ship beyond, but before they could seek out the Army of the Light, they needed to understand this weapon’s capabilities. It had mustered a great force in no time and knocked a powerful ship from the sky. Was it targeted to aerial objects? Was it safer for the Vindicaar’s crew to travel by foot this continent? Could they afford to risk such time when they’d wasted it already?

“It looks like a modified portal.” Leo dared to step closer. Her long snout sniffed around like it would give her answers.

Illidan flexed his fists at his sides, ready to wield his warglaives if the enemy returned. They would, without a doubt, return. “That takes cunning beyond what I expect of the Legion.” The more he studied the weapon, the more he agreed, though. “They found a way to harness the power of a portal into a weapon.” He should not be surprised.

“What a reassuring notion,” Archmage Khadgar remarked.

“This is significant.” Illidan watched Leo draw her sword. “Something is wrong. Why are there no guards?”

“They didn’t expect us to crash their party, remember?” Leo stretched her arm to poke the weapon with her blade.

“I can see every demon here before I lay eyes on them. They would have seen _my _arrival.”

As if testing waters didn’t get results she wanted, Leo swung her sword. Instead of whatever impact she hoped to make, the ground beneath them trembled. Illidan’s wings stretched in reflex as Leo scrambled back up on hind legs and grabbed her sword. Khadgar and Velen braced their staves for support.

“This is no mere weapon,” Illidan said as the ground continued to shake. It was unclear whether trying to retreat would put them in a worse predicament.

Before another word could air, a colossal demon broke free of the fel-scorched stone and rose above them. Illidan never saw such a being in his life. Velen muttered to the Light. In a blink, a Legion portal opened and took the massive demon from risk, leaving everyone in awe.

A _weapon _the Legion valued more than it desired destruction.

With a scoff, Leo sheathed her sword; _Wrathblade,_ a demon’s blade she won in victory of combat and used against the Legion. “Next time I have the brilliant idea to chop a giant Legion weapon, someone take my sword.” A joke too true to be amusing.

“Let’s hope there are no more opportunities like this,” Khadgar still held his staff ready for battle.

The others awed in relief it had not killed them. Illidan seethed. Whatever that thing was must have been created _after _Sargeras burned his eyes out; for Illidan had seen all of the Legion at that moment. He had not known such a monstrosity existed. The force with which it shot down the Xenedar…

“We have underestimated the Legion’s cunning,” he said. A setback, but its escape gave them time.

“We need to find survivors,” Velen said. “The krokul -” draenei mutated into a new race after surviving the fel-poisoned world; _slaves _to the Legion. “- fled when we attacked. I sense them nearby.”

“Survivors you abandoned long ago?” Illidan sneered. “You believe they’ll welcome you back?” He scoffed in thought. “They _might,_ actually. Fewer of _them _dying if _you _help.”

“Illidan, _what _did I say about likely but unhelpful logic?” Leo asked.

Illidan fought a laugh. _“Do it more often.” _A conversation that never happened.

Humor to deflect debate.

_“No,_ I said _Not in front of people who pay me.”_

Illidan’s didn’t hold back his laugh this time.

Velen’s brow furrowed and he gripped his staff tighter. “Laugh if you must. They may be our only hope with the Xenedar down.”

“Fine. Take your risk. _I_ will prepare our forces for the inevitable,” Illidan decided.

“They could use training from the surviving locals.” Leo craned her neck to look up at Illidan and shrugged unprotected furry shoulders.

“Agreed, but until they prove they won’t take revenge, I will not rely on them.”

“And who will go with Illidan?” Khadgar asked. It seemed the aging Archmage would rather explore with Velen than discuss tactic and survival on the Vindicaar.

Illidan wished they would stop acting like he needed constant supervision. He needed their resources to find Sargeras. He would not be there if he didn’t want to.

Leo barked a hearty laugh. “Illidan will be safe on the ship. No bad guys will get him there, don’t worry.”

Illidan glared at the chortling hound. _“Yes,_ I will be_ safe and sound_ there.”

“See? Perfectly protected.” Leo grinned the best a wolf could and waved a paw. “Have fun.” She began walking on her hind legs. “Come on, Velen. I am ready for a tour.”

“Enjoy dying while I’m _safe and sound,_ unable to save you,” Illidan called after her.

Khadgar sighed. “We’ll _all _die, at this rate.”

“Not if you stay with Illidan!” Leo called back. _“Perfectly protected!”_

Illidan swore she did this stuff on purpose.


	5. Chapter 5

As if preparing soldiers who did not want to heed his advice wasn’t bad enough, Leo and Alleria returned High Exarch Turalyon. Turalyon was a paladin who followed the Light with more fervor than Velen. And the High Exarch had learned of the vision Illidan had so many years ago - the image of himself as a weapon of Light. Turalyon greeted Illidan as “The Chosen One.”

It was a prophecy that haunted Illidan to this day. One that meant his redemption to his race. It meant he would never need to sacrifice again.

“Chosen One?” Leo’s voice reeked of curiosity as she eyed Illidan. “You’re even _more _special?”

Illidan scowled. But there was no need to explain. Leo had brought Light’s Heart from her hunter’s hall, and here with Turalyon and Alleria, they recovered the rest of Xe’ra. Illidan had a feeling the vision that led to his death at the Black Temple would be known to all any moment.

His life was about to change. They would all forgive him soon. They would stop treating him like a man lost to greed.

“I still don’t think this is a good idea,” Alleria said as Turalyon motioned down the walk.

“Times have changed, Alleria,” he insisted laying down pieces of a shattered Naaru on the floor.

“How did you break a being of Light?” Illidan asked.

Turalyon shot him a glare but continued laying pieces in a pattern. “Xe’ra has been broken for years. The blast almost finished Her off. But thanks to the Commander, we have the Heart. Xe’ra can finally be whole again. The Light will make it possible for us to win this long war.”

“Why is this so important _now?”_ Leo asked. “If the Light lives in all of us, like Velen says, isn’t it better to have all the pieces _stay _pieces? Keep them in different places so they can’t be taken at once?”

“A wise strategy, if the Legion was prone to breaking and entering,” Illidan pointed out the folly of her idea. A strategy best left for Azeroth where rogues congregated and plotted in places like Dalaran’s sewers.

Leo craned her neck to narrow her eyes at him.

Turalyon looked at her like he understood a mantra she did not. “The Light will protect us. It is no coincidence you safeguarded the Heart at your lodge. It led you to the Chosen One. _He _led you here _with the Heart._ Xe’ra has wisdom _none _of us possess. Only by Light’s full grace can we put this war to rest.” He laid the final pieces down. It did not look like any Naaru Illidan had seen.

“And how will _grace _stop this war?” Leo doubted. A _cause-and-effect _soldier to the letter. “I’m to ask them _politely _to lower their weapons, and when they see my manners and sophistication, they’ll re-evaluate their actions and apologize?”

Illidan snorted so loud all heads turned his way. It took effort to hide a grin.

“Xe’ra’s _grace _is Illidan’s prophecy. With the Light, she will make him a warrior the Legion cannot defeat.” At least Turalyon appreciated humor.

Leo searched Illidan, her mouth curled up, making her more unreadable than ever. “She’ll make him a _Light warrior?_ You mean a Paladin? A Paladin who can_ fly?_ Like the _regular _paladins aren’t scary _enough.”_

Illidan didn’t suppress this laugh. “By the Light, you’ll pay for that remark.”

“Yeah. Scary.”

“There is nothing to worry about with the Light,” Turalyon told Leo. “It is not frightening, but comfort.”

Leo huffed. “Tell that to the _sunburns _I got standing next to _Lothraxion._ And when I walked away, his farewell singed my mane off. He’s so full of the Light, his _breath _burns.”

Illidan forced a laugh back down. Lothraxion’s power might rival his. He didn’t want to test it.

“Wait.” Leo’s eyes narrowed. “What prophecy?”

Turalyon paused to look at Illidan.

Illidan was not so eager to share his deepest vulnerability. The paladin picked up on his silence too well:

“Years ago, Xe’ra shared with Illidan a prophecy.” Turalyon looked at Leo again. “She showed him what he could become.”

Illidan avoided eyes. “A great being of Light that _decimated _the Legion at every turn.”

“She _showed _him?” Ever doubtful. Illidan was glad for another who did not live by faith. _Faith _induced more death than anything; even the Legion had its share of zealots.

But he also wanted his vision to be true.

“If she showed him, then it wasn’t a prophecy,” Leo stated.

Silence around them while everyone in earshot stared at her. Leo, a mortal who lived as an attack dog, was suggesting a Naaru implanted preferred visions.

_Illidan _stared. The vision had been profound, the first and only notion he knew could redeem him. The only way he knew to change how his beloved Tyrande saw him. She _would _trust him again if he became that image and ended Destruction.

To consider Xe’ra had only shown him what _she _wanted him to become, what tool _she _wanted to use…

“That’s what a prophecy is. It is understanding of a divine vision,” Turalyon explained.

“But that’s not what you said Illidan saw,” Leo insisted. “You said _she shared. _Divine visions aren’t shared, they’re supposed to happen _without _influence.” She looked from face to face around her. When no one agreed with her, the hound in armor made a noise and started away. “This is why I avoid cathedrals.”

“At any rate, I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks this is a bad idea,” Alleria broke the silence.

“Please have faith, Alleria,” Turalyon said. “With Xe’ra whole again, the tides will finally change for us. We can push them back for once, not just hold our ground.”

“I’m more worried what she’ll do to _me,”_ Alleria told him. “Sometimes circumstances require unorthodox methods. We may need to use those methods here. She already doesn’t like me investigating outside her orders.”

“We have all the pieces here at once, including Illidan. This _will _be worth it, Alleria.”

“Please stop bringing _my charge_ into the equation,” Leo complained.

“Please stop talking about me like I’m not _right here,”_ Illidan mimicked her tone.

Leo bared her teeth at him. _“Fine._ _Join _their little cult.” Claws clanked on the floor as she moved near Alleria. Teaming up with the only other skeptic.

Illidan scowled. “I must_ join their army_ to get _answers? _Am I an _Alliance soldier _now, for working with_ you?”_

“Save your disagreements for the battlefield,” Velen advised. “We all need every ally we can get.”

“Agreed.” Turalyon motioned, and two draenei began carrying the Heart of Light in slow steps. “With Xe’ra returned, I have no doubt She will restore hope and ease tensions.”

Placing the Heart of Light was a process that crawled like a snail. As if afraid they’d break it, the carriers took no risk. Watching such sluggishness made time crawl slower. Eyes grazed, met. Weight shifted, Leo’s claws scraped while hooves slid. In silence, even the elves’ leather soles made noise.

The worgen sighed aloud. “I should have stopped by my Garrison first.”

Grand Artificer Romuul perked up. “Did we forget something?”

“No. It is too quiet here. I should have brought the jukebox.”

Romuul hummed with a nod. “That would be a nice change of pace.” A brief pause. “That little _Pinchwhistle _girl, too. Never a dull moment with _her _around.”

“Kimzee?”

“Yes. Life of the party, that one. I never thought I could miss someone with so many explosives on her belt.”

Leo chuckled. “I could use a few of those.”

“Please do your best _not _to detonate the Vindicaar,” Prophet Velen requested.

“No promises. I forgot my jukebox, I’ll need to improvise somehow.”

“I will never understand the fascinations of mortals,” Illidan said.

Leo looked over. “I’d expect elves to jump on those. Explosions keep life interes-”

_“Shh.” _A stern noise. Alleria commanded well when she wanted. There was no need to interrupt, though. The glowing Heart on the floor drew enough attention.

The pieces of the the Naaru grew almost blinding as it rose. An aura of crystalline chimes and divine light shimmered and sang as shards of Xe’ra danced back into place through the air. Before all eyes, the Mother of Light became whole once more, towering above them, more magnificent than anything the planet saw in ages. Ominous even to those who lived by logic, not faith.

The one pure thing on Argus.

The High Exarch dropped to one knee in reverence. “We are blessed to be in your presence once more, Xe’ra.” Hope and affection for the Naaru resonated from him. This was _his _Goddess no doubt.

“Turalyon. You have found the Chosen One.” Right to Xe’ra’s agenda.

Not even praise for her devout follower bringing her back to life. Turalyon’s hesitance was tell enough his deity’s lack of appreciation pinched him. The High Exarch turned, failing to hide a frown of disappointment, and held an arm out toward Illidan.

“No he didn’t. _I_ did.”

Illidan looked at Leo. Alleria hushed her. 

“He _didn’t _find Illidan. _I_ did, and the Illidari,” Leo insisted, looking from Xe’ra, Turalyon, Alleria, and Illidan; quite a feat for a hound on two legs. Turalyon felt no desire to correct Xe’ra, and it seemed Xe’ra didn’t care. Perhaps a subject that only mattered to Leo.

Illidan took a deep breath and put one hoof after the other, as slow as he could. The Naaru addressing him so soon rose suspicion in him, and he agreed with Leo. His loyal followers searched years for his body and soul, and Leo had the means to go where they could not. Turalyon did not deserve the credit for finding him.

But Illidan had waited so long for answers to the vision he saw in Outland. The vision had been so profound it paralyzed his soul even in death. _Was _redemption possible for him? He had given up _everything _to protect his beloved Tyrande. There _had _to be some reward for that.

With another heavy breath, his hooves came to a stop, and he raised his head to the being of Light.

“Illidan,” Xe’ra began, “from birth, the Light in your eyes held such promise for the future.” 

His gut knotted with memory: his brother named Arch Druid instead - and Tyrande choosing Malfurion because of it; Sargeras burning his eyes out with fel, pushing him further away from the life he could have had. Illidan didn’t mean to frown. “I sacrificed that birthright long ago,” he told Xe’ra.

“Do you not wish to reclaim what was lost? To be whole again?” she encouraged.

He hesitated. If he could go back to the elf he once was and do things over, re-do his life so Tyrande would choose _him _instead…

Was that possible? Could a Naaru turn back time like that? It would change the whole world; because _his _actions had changed it.

And the Burning Legion would still be out there. If Illidan could go back and choose a different path, the Legion would still go on in the name of Sargeras, conquering, mutating. _Destroying. _And Illidan would die along with everything else - or live to see his Tyrande corrupted into a demon.

No. That was not possible. He would see the Legion’s end, even it meant living forever with a broken heart.

“The Legion’s end…” Was he mad to deny this? “Is all I seek.”

“My child,” like a sympathetic mother. “You’ve given so much for so little.”

Illidan hardened and scowled, suspicion flaring through him. His sacrifices were _not _for nothing. His Illidari gave up life and name to fight a never-ending war on monsters who could gain new bodies upon death. He and his people _never _stopped fighting to give Azeroth a chance at life._ Constant pain_ and _micromanaging self-control_. Only until of late, when the Legion’s power grew, were the Illidari’s efforts alone not enough. _His _constant sacrifice _had worked._

“Your _true potential,”_ Xe’ra continued, emitting light that descended toward Illidan. “- your _redemption_ lies before you.” Illidan watched her light begin to surround him.

“What is that?” Leo asked.

“Leopoldanna, please,” Alleria hushed her again.

“Velen, what is that?” Leo ignored her.

“Let go of your shattered form and embrace the Light’s power,” Xe’ra _bribed _him.

Illidan tried to back up, but the rays of light closed in on him. _What was this? _This Naaru had him _corralled._ “I’ve traded my freedom for power before,” he let her know he was on to her.

“Illidan?” A warning to leave while he could; he could not. Leo seemed the only one concerned. “Velen, _what _is she_ doing?”_ But the Prophet behind Illidan did not answer.

“The Prophecy…” Xe’ra reminded him of his vision in Outland. _“Must be fulfilled.”_

The rays of light locked on Illidan like a prison cuff. _So tight it took his breath._ He’d walked into a trap!

_“Illidan!”_ Leo shouted.

Illidan could not answer. His elbows dug into his ribs, the light around him burned. He struggled for breath alone, but it felt the more he did, the tighter Xe’ra’s hold became. _He couldn’t break free._

“Your old life has passed,” Xe’ra announced. “The Light will forge you a new one.”

_She meant to force him!_ “It is not yours to take!” Illidan strained. _He never stopped fighting. _

“Let him go!” Leo demanded. _“Xe’ra!”_

“Xe’ra knows what she’s doing,” Turalyon dismissed her alarm.

“The Light,” Xe'ra ignored them, “will heal your scars.” Like a filling cup, blinding light crept up his tattoos.

_It burned. _Like the fel all over again.

_“Velen, make her stop!”_

Illidan leaned and gasped in air. “I _AM _MY SCARS!” he roared. He could not have held the Legion back without them! He struggled harder as the light rose, bending, twisting. _There was no warning to fight this!_ _He _was not prepared! He flexed his arms, trying to loosen Xe’ra’s hold._ If he could open his wings…_

Xe’ra enlarged. Illidan felt heat like the sun itself neared. “The Light is your destiny.” She _told _him. The Naaru was _not _giving Illidan a choice.

Someone else roared, drawing a cry of protest from Turalyon.

Illidan had _one _choice. He could fight; he would fight them all if necessary. **_**“MY DESTINY**_**_ IS_**_** MY OWN!**_**_”_

The surge from his eyes kindled his skin as it pushed back the light. He burned Xe’ra till the normal discomfort of the fel returned and the room exploded with light, _and more. _

He _could not _give Xe’ra the chance to do it again.

Illidan’s wings gave out as the light died out around him. Weakened and trembling and still catching breath, he hit the floor hard. Shards of a defeated Naaru fell around him, now in more pieces than before.

_He fell for it._ He couldn’t believe he’d fallen so desperate. And his only allies stood there _watching _as their god _violated _him.

“Illidan?” Leo’s raspy voice broke. Not as breathless as Illidan.

She might be the exception, whatever her motives were. At least she had spoken against Xe’ra.

Heavy feet thudded. "You’ve doomed us _all!” _Turalyon’s voice echoed through the ship and he ran for Illidan. From the corner of his burning eyes, Illidan saw the High Exarch’s shining sword. _“BETRAYER!”_

“Turalyon, _NO!” _Leo yelled.

Illidan put his hand out to stop the attack; almost not in time. He didn’t secure his fate from a Naaru to die_ now. _

Leo called for Illidan again. One of the elves asked if he killed Xe’ra. Turalyon pressed harder, trying to force the sword. Illidan braced his ground. Even as blood trickled from the blade at his hand.

“Your faith has _blinded _you.” Breath shook him. Illidan turned his head. Turalyon looked almost maniac, intending to kill the one who killed his deity.

“Turalyon, _drop _it!” Leo ordered. “Step away! _Now!” _Worgen were threatening enough without preparing to attack.

But the old human ignored her. Turalyon was as Illidan said: blinded from reason.

“There can _be _no _Chosen One,”_ Illidan growled. How could someone look at forced conversion and call it _right? _It seemed enough to make one _question _faith. Illidan _refused _to be a pawn again. He didn’t need the Light’s help to destroy the Legion anyway. He’d come this far without it, and the Legion only grew stronger with his death before. “Only _we _can _save ourselves.”_


	6. Chapter 6

Turalyon was determined not to let the Light down. The lines on his face intensified, teeth bared, and the sword pressed harder into Illidan’s hand.

A growl broke the silence, and with no warning other than clanking claws, Leo tackled Turalyon away from Illidan. Cries of shock rang out, louder when Leo roared in the High Exarch’s face. Turalyon tried to summon holy light, but she bared her talons and thrashed to make him shield his face instead. With another roar, she pounced on Turalyon’s sword and and stood to defend Illidan with it.

“What is wrong with you?” Turalyon scrambled to his feet.

“What is wrong with _you?” _Leo growled back.

“He destroyed Xe’ra! _He killed our chance at winning this war!”_

_“She_ tried to kill _him!_ And you _praised _her for it!”

“She was changing him! Letting him become one with pure Light!”

“That’s called _killing him!”_ Leo barked.

“It was an _honor _that would have let us stop the Legion!” Turalyon shouted back.

“Then _you _do it! But don’t force someone else to! She _raped _him! Your _god _took him _against his will! _Illidan is our _best _chance against the Legion,but _only as he is!”_

“Xe’ra was making him _stronger!”_

“At the cost of his_ freedom!_ His free will, _like _he said!” Leo roared again, this time in irritation. “You think he would still want the Legion dead if she changed him? He’d be nothing more than a _machine _programmed to follow orders! We might as well send _Blingtron _to fight the Legion! You already know what she’s capable of - what if she decided Alleria needed to be punished _more? _Or if she decided to punish _you?”_ Leo’s argument was well made already. But Turalyon’s look of betrayal said he didn’t comprehend. “She could send Illidan, and he couldn’t say no! He’d fight because she _told _him, not because he has _reason _to!_ This isn’t a war we fight for no reason!” _

“It is pointless.” Illidan pushed himself up. “His kind don’t want to believe the Light can be wrong.” He staggered away by the window to finish regaining his strength.

The twisting knot rumbled inside him. He didn’t know what was more humiliating - to be violated, or have his _allies _watch _and approve._

With a huff at Turalyon’s silence, Leo lowered the shining sword and paced. A sharp snort before she gestured up at the radiating demon on the loft. “Is that what happened to _Lothraxion?_ She took _him _against his will, _also? _You praise him for his loyalty to the Light, but _you saw _what Xe’ra just did to Illidan! Lothraxion only follows the Light because he _must! Look at him! _He doesn’t have a choice! _Does _he? He doesn’t _believe,_ he was _programmed! _That’s _not _what we need of Illidan! We need someone who _feels _when to fight and _when to stop! We need _him to _continue _wanting something enough on Azeroth to _want to save it!_

“Xe’ra would have imparted Her holy wisdom on him. She would _never-”_

_“Anyone_ can fight because they’re told!” the worgen cut Turalyon short. No one had seen her rant before. It seemed she’d had unspoken concerns long before today._ “I _did, and look where that led us! I was_ following orders_ when I killed Illidan at the Black Temple, and the Legion saw their greatest threat gone! _Look what they accomplished in his absence!_ _Because _I followed orders without question! _We don’t need history to repeat itself!_ He’s _right _about _everything! _And you want to _kill _him for it!”

“History _wouldn’t _repeat itself. Xe’ra was giving him the power to destroy them without effort!” Turalyon sighed like he couldn’t understand her lack of faith.

_“He’s right,_ Turalyon,” Leo enunciated. “The Light blinds as _much _as the darkness! You can’t claim to fight for life when you _praise _the Light for wanting it gone. Agency is the _only _thing separating us from the Legion! A drone is a drone _is a drone! _We don’t need _two _Lothraxions. I bet he doesn’t even remember what he was like before he was forced like that! Does he even know he was once demon? Conviction means _nothing _if you don’t remember your old life! _Look _at him. Look at_ Illidan’s arms_ where Xe’ra _bound _him and _tell _me that didn’t hurt! _How_ can you justify her?”

“You have an impressive career, Commander.” Turalyon shook his head at her like a disappointed father. “It’s disheartening to see you fall apart after all this time.”

The same sort of taunt Xe’ra used against him mere moments ago. Leo growled; Illidan peeked. She threw Turalyon’s sword and sprung, pinning him to the floor so he couldn’t move._ “Do you want to know what it feels like to have scars that control your fate every day?! ****DO YOU!!”****_ she roared in his face so hard saliva flew out. She roared again before pushing herself away to pace on all fours.

Illidan hoped the others saw what he did: it took great effort for a beast in battle to stop fighting. The cursed worgen had more control than the High Exarch did. And he was no match for her.

Illidan turned when she made her way up to him. Pacing on two legs now, Leo snorted or growled every other step. Turalyon had made a vicious yet moral enemy.

Voices behind them picked back up. Velen couldn’t believe Xe’ra did what she did. He counseled Turalyon, while the elves and draenei spoke among themselves. They wondered what else Illidan was capable of if he could destroy a Naaru. They questioned whether Leo would remain on their side.

“They ought to kill you,” Illidan said, still staring at the broken planet.

She snorted again. “You’re welcome.”

“They ought to kill us _both,”_ he told her.

“But they won’t.”

“They may never see things our way.” Illidan thought for a moment. Xe’ra was not the only Naaru; the first of many. One had even succumbed to the Void’s corruption, yet Turalyon was so blind he would revere even that. “This war may be harder for us, now. There are far more of them than us.”

“That _idiot _needs to get his _head _out of his _pure ass _and not fight the only advantage we have over the Legion.” She didn’t keep her voice down. Leo even looked back to see if Turalyon heard her. When Illidan peeked back again, Turalyon glared at them both. Leo’s whole body craned to roar at him from afar. Then she pulled her sword from its sheath and stomped to the navigation console. “I need to _kill _something.”

Illidan turned to follow. “As do I.” With luck, killing demons would push Xe’ra’s assault from his mind.


	7. Chapter 7

There was no joking that day. A demon hunter branded as Betrayer had killed the draenei deity, and an Alliance Commander attacked a High Exarch. It did not matter both acts were in defense. To continue their alliance with the draenei, it was best Illidan and Leo not return to the Vindicaar until necessary. Until those inside the ship no longer seethed in shock of Illidan decimating their _Great _Mother. The two outsiders walked in silence through the busy Krokul camp, through a tunnel, and into an open world ripe with fel pickings.

While they shared a common angst now, it was not long before Leo went her own way. Head first into a run littered with demons.

Sacrifice bore a different meaning on Argus. At least alone. There was no one to shoulder burden to. No one there at his back. So many demons and monstrosities under Sargeras’ command, there was no guarantee what he did there made any impact on Azeroth. Every demon he cut down, every demonic soul he devoured was replaced with little hesitation. Failed demon commanders would take longer to respawn - their souls were punished if they failed on land. But they all returned in some form. _Sacrifice_ didn’t matter on Argus.

Survival did.

Yet it did not surprise Illidan when he felt a familiar presence gust past. _Leo. _Her soul, anyway; he could recognize hers from a crowd. For a Commander, she put herself into fatal situations all too often. Illidan hurried his blades through a Doombreaker, then followed Leo’s essence.

At once he saw why her soul ran free. Leo had tried to take on a dozen fel eredar, half of them elite champions, and her body lay in a puddle of burning fel. For her to return without immediate death, Illidan would have to save her. _Again. _He moved her still figure out of fire and turned, warglaives alight with the same fel that killed his ally.

Demons did not have fel fire in their eyes. Illidan’s power was a _gift_ from Sargeras; the precise evil he meant to stop. A gift that burned his skin from head to toe when he used it, and no demon could deflect. Between his searing blades and eye beams, the demons Leo had not cut down fell like old beasts.

Illidan returned to evaluate Leo’s body. Her soul was merging in, but the fel she died in kept her wounds open. He knelt, and after it was clear she was too injured to return right away, he gathered his mana for a weak healing spell. He had always been more proficient at destructive magic and arcane manipulation, but he hoped it sufficed.

He did not know whose soul she absorbed, but with as many times as she died and found her way back to her body, it was powerful. As powerful as the soul Illidan himself ingested. But unlike demons, she never found a new body. Leo always managed to return before decay began. Here on Argus, she might have met her match.

He huffed at the thought of _chaperoning _his chaperone to ensure his only ally did not die.

Under his slow magic, breath returned to Leo’s body. Illidan kept the spell on her till her wounds stopped bleeding, watching in silence as she adjusted to restriction and pain of physical form again. When she sat up, Illidan stood.

“You need new armor,” he said.

Leo, on the ground, craned far to look up at him. She stared at Illidan’s open hand a moment before accepting his help. “I always need new armor. You should see my repair bills.” As soon as Illidan pulled her up, she snarled at the fel eating away her mail greaves. Right there, she ripped her armor off and dropped it. She was lucky fel had not seeped through to her underclothes.

“Yes, that is much more efficient.”

Her canine lips curled up at him with a growl.

“There is a station down the road,” Illidan told her. “With any luck, they have not heard what happened on board. You should be fine while you find new armor.”

“You think I need armor to kill anyone?”

_“Here_ you do.”

“Then why don’t _you _have armor?”

“Because my blood is as poisonous as theirs, my skin as tough.”

As if it was a memo, the furry head turned to sniff his left hand. The hand Illidan caught Turalyon’s sword with. “It is not infected. Does it hurt?”

Illidan almost forgot about it. He looked at his palm. “No. Killing demons is good distraction.”

“What about your arms?”

Illidan took the moment to look down and study what she saw. The _pure, precious_ Xe’ra left marks like a rug burn. Proof Illidan survived a Naaru’s attack.

“It is just another scar,” he said.

“One you shouldn’t have.”

Illidan found her eyes.

“I regret finding her.”

“Her actions are not your fault,” he assured. Leo did more than expected when Xe’ra assaulted him.

“It is. I brought the Heart, and I found her in the wreckage. Without me, Xe’ra could not have come back.”

Illidan studied the beast before him. Perhaps she _did _regret killing him at the Black Temple. “You are also the only one who tried to make her stop.”

They stared for a moment, not speaking. Her eyes searched his face, traced his horns. Tried to search his burning eyes through the blindfold.

“The only way back is through the Vindicaar,” she said. Was she suggesting they leave?

“Why should we go back?”

“We need more of your people here. The Illidari. People on _our _side,” she insisted.

_Our _side. She had chosen a side in case domestic war broke out.

She was right. Illidan was allowed to bring followers, but the Illidari would last longer on Argus than the draenei who’d fled so long ago. To succeed, they needed more people built to destroy the Legion.

“If we leave, there is no guarantee they will let us return.” Illidan did more than than shatter the Mother of Light. He shattered the High Exarch’s hope; for someone who lived on faith, that was worse. “Your contacts still exist in Dalaran, yes?”

“On the Broken Isles around Dalaran.” The human hound studied him.

“If I stay out here, those on board should leave me alone. But _you _can go. I will find somewhere strategic to set my Illidari to work,” Illidan told her. “And get new armor while you’re there.”

Leo rolled her eyes.

“With that attitude, you’ll need surplus.”

“I’ll raid my bank, don’t worry.” She paused with a deep breath, then turned her head up and opened her mouth to speak. Then changed her mind.

“What?” Illidan prompted.

Leo shook her head. “Nevermind. Stay alive.”


	8. Chapter 8

Without a sunset, Illidan lost track of how long Leo was gone. He scouted Argus until he found a suitable location, and returned to the Vindicaar only to collect his Illidari to show them where to make camp. The Antoran Wastes were ripe with Legion regiments and imp breeding grounds. More than enough subjects to test to gain the advantage.

Up in the Vindicaar, Prophet Velen had calmed Turalyon. The High Exarch had reached an understanding that Illidan was vital to their efforts, Light-forged or not. Velen made sure Illidan and the Illidari could come and go as needed because they were _helping _like everyone else. Despite Turalyon’s best efforts, the aire he gave off was forced. He did not want to accept Illidan, but he tolerated him.

As Illidan tolerated their faith.

Illidan was on board when the new Commander arrived. He exited out of the transport console to watch the human female strut down the walk. Large eyes gave the impression she was enthralled by the draenei ship; humans did not have space ships.

Illidan frowned as she neared. He should have known this would happen. Leo had attacked a high-raking human Paladin who was vital to the draenei army. The Alliance had replaced her.

Mortals and their damn rules.

“What is this?” Illidan demanded, interrupting the new human as she settled beside Archmage Khadgar with conversation. Eyes flew as Illidan stomped over. He was _not _appeased. The Alliance had taken his _only _ally away. “Why is _she _here? Where is Leo! We don’t need _another _Commander, we need the _efficient _one.”

Khadgar hesitated, surprised and amused; _he had the nerve? _The Archmage looked to the female in silent prompt, but she only stared up at Illidan.

She was even shorter than the Archmage. The Alliance might as well have sent dwarves or a gnome. Did they expect Illidan not to step on them?

Then with a huff, the new human changed. Features and limbs distorted with silent screams. She reared back, hands flexed like claws. Dark fog seeped from her skin._ Hair grew,_ teeth grew, face stretched to accommodate; her _bones _changed. A change so quick it stole Illidan’s breath. With a roar that prickled his thick skin, the new human became the exact worgen Illidan had been awaiting.

Illidan crouched to reach eye-level, too deep in awe to hide it. He had never seen a worgen transformation before. He hadn’t known Leo _could _change back. The _power _in her _entire being._

_“Do_ it again,” he said.

Leo snarled. “I am _not _a parlor trick.”

Illidan felt the grin spread and couldn’t stop it. _“Please?”_

Her eyes narrowed. “No.” Leo began toward the console. She made a noise, and with a squawk of reply, a violet hippogryph ran down to meet her. “Two platoons are on the way.” She looked over and frowned again at the interest emanating from Illidan.

He couldn’t help it. He had always held fascination for darker magic; curses, arcane manipulation of time and space, mind control. To see so much of it now in his only ally, to _watch _the change itself was a gratifying surprise. “Thank you.”

“Why are you being so polite?” Leo leaned back. Her expression was clear for the first time: uncertainty.

“I am intrigued.”

“Well… _stop _it. Be cold and impersonal. Be the Illidan I _know._ Order me around.” Furry hands waved at him.

“Fine.” Illidan couldn’t stop another grin. “Get out there and kill demons.”

“Better.”

Illidan followed Leo down to the surface, still too impressed for his own good. He had only known the wolf before.

“Does he still want to kill you?” she asked as Illidan stepped off the transporter.

“Turalyon? I have no doubt. Velen has talked sense into him, at least.” He paused for a second. “When we get back on board, you can do it again.”

Leo’s shoulders sank and she craned her neck to glare up at him. “Why did I even bother.”

“Why _did _you bother? I did not know you could change back.”

Leo paused, eyes ahead. “That day, I told Turalyon you need something on Azeroth worth fighting for.” _The day Xe’ra forced her Light on Illidan._ “I’m trying to take my own advice. Until today, I don’t remember when I last stood as a human.”

Illidan thought of his beloved Tyrande. Underneath everything he’d done, she was _his _reason. Back then, he wanted the power to protect her without effort. Now, he fought the Legion so Tyrande could keep her home and not fall to fel. “You have nothing to lose?”

Leo met his eyes. “No.”

“Then why _do _you fight?”

“Because that’s what wolves do.” As she said, until today, she had forgotten what it felt like to be human. _Cursed _indeed.

Illidan knew what it was like to wake up and realize he’d had little control over his life.

He unsheathed Leo’s sword and held it out to her. _“Make _your reason.”


	9. Chapter 9

Leo did not show at the rendezvous point. Illidan meant to show her his Illidari base in the Antoran Wastes so she knew a safe place for respite. When she failed to arrive, he boarded the Vindicaar. For not following their faith, she regarded many draenei as friends. When it was clear Leo was not on board, Illidan fell to concern.

She died again. Hadn’t she?

She always went to fight on her own, that was not new. What worried him was her last death on Argus, when Illidan had to pull her body from a puddle of fel. She had not exaggerated when she said the amount of fel on this planet could kill even him.

“Where’s Leo?” he asked the draenei on board.

No one had seen her. Grand Artificer Romuul could track anyone from the console, but not even he could find her.

Illidan’s sigh of disappointment resembled a growl. He needed to chaperone his chaperone_ again. _

The Alliance should pay him, at this rate.

He searched the draenei camps, told their Warframe drivers to keep an eye out. He went to his own camp and sent Illidari to find her. Illidan then ran and jumped from ledge to cliff, gliding his way to areas concentrated with demons; places Leo would bound head-first into.

It was a draenei who found her. Alive and well, sitting on a jagged ledge high above any camp, closer to panthera breeding ground than people.

_Not _dead. A genuine surprise.

Illidan made his way back to Krokuun, wanting to curse Leo aloud as he climbed. How a beast with claws managed to get where she did confounded him. He could not jump and soar on these angry bones of the planet.

When at last he reached the cliff she sat on, Illidan sighed. Furry ears twitched, and the violet hippogryph made a noise and cocked its head at him. A last hard push to hoist himself up to level ground, and Illidan huffed. Such effort to reach her. It was like she chose this spot so no one would find her.

“We were supposed to meet hours ago,” he said, not bothering with pleasantries.

“A thousand pardons.”

Illidan scoffed. “That’s it? You didn’t think it _important _to keep our meeting?” As he approached, he noticed she held something to an ear.

“I don’t exactly have a clock out here.”

“So why are you out here?” Illidan stood at the edge near her and peered over. So many demons below, all unaware the master demon hunter was right above them. If this place hadn’t been so difficult to reach, it would make a great vantage point. No demon would think to come up here. “Are you _trying _to hide?” Another thought hit him, and Illidan looked down. “Are you injured?”

Dark eyes drifted. “No.” Leo’s ears twitched, then she turned her head and held out a copper coin. “I found this,” she said. “I fished it up in Dalaran.”

Illidan took the coin. As plain as any copper piece he’d seen. Warm to the touch and a slight vibration to it, but otherwise a plain coin.

“Can you hear it?” she asked.

He glanced at her again, then brought the coin up to his ear.

_“An end to the Burning Legion,” _the coin whispered like an echo. _“An end to the Burning Legion.” _It repeated itself without end.

Illidan stood frozen, listening. That was _his _voice. This was the coin he threw into the fountain the only trip he ever made to Dalaran.

Illidan’s curiosity spiked and jerked his head down towards Leo. “You went to the city to _fish?_ You _fish _in the _wishing fountain?”_

Leo looked innocent enough. “I fish there all the time. Those goldfish are delicious.”

His gaze returned to the copper piece in his palm. “And you found _my _wish. Out of all others.”

“I found more,” she said. “Quite a few more. Most people throw in a dozen coins. I’ve fished up some of Khadgar’s, and Velen’s. Even Tyrande Whisperwind’s coins.” She pronounced the name wrong, but hooked Illidan’s attention; as she no doubt guessed. “And your brother’s.”

_Malfurion. _

“They’re both there?” Illidan knew his Tyrande was in the Broken Isles. Leo had mentioned working with her in Suramar.

No. _Not _his. Tyrande had chosen his _brother _over him - over their childhood bond - long ago.

It never changed how Illidan felt about her. There were times even now, he wished Tyrande would change her mind.

“Yes. He stays in Val’Sharah most the time,” Leo answered.

“Figures. The _druid _hangout.” Remembering his brother still brought forth bitterness. Malfurion was given everything Illidan should have had, from Tyrande to being chosen as next Archdruid. Twins at birth, yet Malfurion was favored their whole life. It was hard not resenting Malfurion for _everything. _

Illidan hesitated when he felt Leo’s stare. He shifted his weight and handed the coin back to her. “What else do you find in that fountain? No one _stops _you from fishing there?”

Leo dug through a waist pouch after tucking Illidan’s coin tight away. “Souvenirs. Here, I got these for you.” She held out something else.

Illidan took what she offered with uncertainty. A shiny pebble and a single, shimmering scale. He frowned at her. Was this another joke?

“Don’t throw those away. I fished long and hard for those. They’re quite lovely.”

Illidan held them back out. “Then keep them _safe _for me. I have no pockets.” She could carry her own junk around.

He watched her while she placed them back into her waist purse as if they were treasures. This worgen mystified him sometimes.

“Why were you out here listening to my wishing coin?” he asked.

“I don’t know. To listen, I guess.”

“You wanted to listen to my _voice?”_

“I’m looking for ideas.”

“Ideas for what?”

“Anything.” Leo hesitated. “Do you ever feel like this is the end?”

“You think you’re going to die? Permanently?”

“... No. Just the end. Like I’ll never see Azeroth again.”

“That is why we’re here, so you _can _see Azeroth again.”

“Never mind. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s just a feeling.”

“Have it your way.”

Another heavy pause between them. The hippogryph whipped its head around to preen its back feathers, then it sneezed. Leo sat there silent as when Illidan found her.

He had the feeling he’d offended her. Such a task seemed hard to accomplish, but it appeared Illidan had. Or he’d intruded on her thoughts.

Illidan walked to the edge again and peered down. A familiar face he had not seen a moment ago now stood to oversee the eredar. “Do you see that demon down there?” He pointed.

“The big one?”

“Vagath. He served me in the Black Temple,” he told her. Illidan turned his head to meet her eyes. “Threw his lot in with the Legion after you killed me.”

“You say that far too casually. Like you secretly loathe me for it,” she retorted. Illidan also had the impression she jested.

“It was painful.”

“Emotionally, or physically?”

_“Both. _Now do you want to help me kill that demon, or not?”

_“Oh. That’s _where you were going with this. Fine, yes.” She got up and stood on hind legs. “Let’s kill it.”

Something about killing demons cut tension like nothing else. Even when they returned to form later, each one felled felt like a mission accomplished. Whatever Illidan had intruded on when he found Leo no longer mattered. Cutting down a former follower was even more satisfying. Vagath had not expected to see Illidan again, nor had he expected to fail against someone as small as Leo. It felt good to show Vagath the error of falling in league with the Legion. 

“First Maiev’s blade, now yours,” Illidan said as he stood over the body lying in its own fel blood.

“Maiev frightens me.”

Illidan snorted. “She frightens many. But _he _may be more wary of _you,_ now.” He gestured to the dead Legion general. “His punishment in Antorus will be great.”

“Antorus sounds like paradise,” Leo joked.

“He’ll _wish _it was.”

Speaking of wishes reminded him of their conversation on the ledge above. Fishing, wishing the Legion’s end, Vagath turning traitor after Leo killed Illidan, Leo asking if Illidan’s death hurt.

Strange conversations he did not have with anyone else.

Illidan looked at the furry, brutal huntress. “Does it hurt when _you _die?"


	10. Chapter 10

Illidan watched the human descend the walk. Now that he’d seen Leo’s natural form, she was no surprise. Curiosity peaked through him, though. The other day, she said she couldn’t remember when she last stood as a human. Now she returned to the Vindicaar as one for the second time in a week.

Leo held Illidan’s gaze as she approached. Large eyes, smooth skin, no age lines, not even laugh lines. As a human, Leo looked quite young. _This _surprised Illidan; all the _good _human soldiers were seasoned.

“Still finding something to fight for?” Illidan greeted her when her feet stopped near him.

Even harder to look at her now. Her human form only came to his hip. Compared to Illidan, she might pass for a child.

“Yeah.” She hesitated to look out the window. The fel-ravaged continent of Krokuun lay below the Vindicaar.

“How are you so young with nothing to fight for? You have no family?”

“No.” Leo shook her head. “Well, we Gilneans are few, these days. Those who survived the curse all became family that night. But it’s not the same. We’re _loyal _to each other, but we’re as close as we all were before the curse. I don’t know most their names still.”

Illidan had never heard a Gilnean accent from a human before. Pitch rose and fell every few words, like a dialect from a once-carefree people that continued on now in human form - habit, or a reminder of better days. The Gilnean King, Genn Greymane, did not have one, and his soldiers around Dalaran all stood as worgen with their gruff voices. Hearing it now was a new and welcome change from the uniform Draenei accents.

“You have no home to go to?”

Leo looked far up at him. “The closest place for me is my Garrison. But that’s on Draenor, through a warp of time. And… I haven’t been back in a while. I’ve been so busy in the Broken Isles.” She shook her head. “Anyway, that’s not why I’m here like this. I wanted to show you something.”

Illidan watched in curiosity again as Leo unfastened the high neck of her cloak. Wristguards came off next, then the mail armor off her right arm. Without needing to ask, Illidan knew what she meant to show him.

“See? I have scars, as well.” Leo wasn’t exaggerating. Shiny marks of pale skin sat in violent patterns on her neck, her arm, down her left forearm. Illidan dropped to a knee and pushed hair away from her neck to get a better look.

Leo had been bitten square on the crook of her neck. Even if she remained in human form, she would always have a reminder of the curse in the teeth marks on her neck.

Illidan searched her eyes. Her reasons for defending him when Xe’ra restrained him were now clear. He knew why she risked death to protect him from Turalyon; why she asked if Turalyon wanted scars that controlled him.

“You _are _your scars,” Illidan said. _Just like him._

“Every minute of every day.” Leo held his gaze as if he had normal eyes to look into. “Every time I smell blood, or get angry. I can’t fight without turning into a wolf. I can’t even _sprint _without changing.” Her accent sounded far too cheerful and young voice too sweet for such grim words.

Illidan returned to his feet, still staring at the small Huntmaster before him. She lived a life little different from his Illidari. The difference was her fight extended to _all _corruption, not only one. Leo sacrificed her life every day. Illidan now held immense respect for worgen.

“All right,” Khadgar announced, “I will return. Is everyone _sure _they don’t need anything from the city while I’m there?” He looked around.

Romuul requested new cuisine. When others chimed in agreement, Leo suggested Khadgar pilfer Warden rations. The Wardens, while no one’s favorite faction, were renowned for refined field rations that did not spoil: culinary specialties from all origins that took sometimes years to prepare. Leo said she often only did errands for the Wardens on promise she would get a cache of rations for payment.

The Archmage sighed with a fallen face. _“And_ I need to meet with Maiev.” His shoulders slumped. “Thank you for reminding me,” Khadgar grumbled to Leo.

“You know me, Khadgar. Always glad to lend a helping hand.” Leo’s eyes twinkled as she winked at him. Wit seemed a Gilnean’s first nature. No wonder she was prone to humor all day.

“Just don’t do anything rash in my absence,” Khadgar looked from Leo to Illidan.

“Like something that would lead to a bad report?” Leo guessed, still chipper as ever.

Khadgar’s face fell. “Exactly that.”

Illidan frowned. He had a feeling he knew what would happen if Maiev received a report she did not like. “If you bring Maiev here, the Vindicaar will never see me again.”

The small human next to Illidan perked up, eyes still twinkling. “Will _I_ see you again?”

Illidan snapped his head toward her. “What is this, a courtship? Am I to take you on _dates _now?”

Leo hesitated. Illidan once again could not read her face. “Do people kill demons on dates?” Intentional innocence emphasized by large eyes.

Illidan frowned in thought. He knew this was play; was it?_ It better be._ But he liked where she turned it; an excuse to get off the ship and fight along someone who understood her. To get back in the hide she was more comfortable in. _“Yes._ Yes they do.”

“Then… yes?” she said, still looking far too innocent. She glanced from Khadgar to Illidan for validation. “I think this _is _a courtship?” She played face almost _too _well.

“Fine. Get ready,” Illidan told her. “We’re going on a date,” he announced for all to hear. Leo turned her head to snort. _“No_ one interrupt.”


	11. Chapter 11

“They’ll gossip, now.” Leo stepped off the transporter as Illidan knew her best - covered in fur with her sword in hand.

Illidan groaned. “I regret saying that so loud.” Leo chuckled. “For the record,” Illidan told her, “I blame this on you.”

Leo laughed out loud. “Don’t lose your nerve now.” As if still stuck in the humor she had on board, Illidan swore she smirked as she turned away.

“Good luck _surviving _today with that attitude,” he told her.

“Oh, I’ll be fine. I always am after I regain consciousness. It’s you I’m worried about.” Without a doubt, the hound grinned. “I bet they’re already saying you call me _Mana Buns.”_

Illidan scowled with a snort. He watched her start off on two legs, dumbstruck for riposte. He _never _talked like this with anyone. _Would _he hear gossip like that when they returned? 

Was gossip prone to be more tasteful than _Mana Buns? _Leo couldn’t even do magic.

Illidan shook his head and leapt, gliding to a stop in front of her. “If _anyone _is Mana Buns, it is _not you._ Between us, I am the only one who can cast spells.”

Leo chuckled again. “All right, you win. _You _can be Mana Buns.”

“What? _No! _That is _not _what I said.”

Leo walked on, still laughing to herself. “I am _definitely _calling you that on board.”

Illidan growled. He dared not ask what put her in such a mood, but he hoped it waned soon. “Just go kill a demon,” he told her. “Vecaya and Sathrenael, along the Xenedar’s crash site. And everything between them.” With luck, a few elite Legion forces should squash her frivolity. If not, Illidan would spend more time saving his giggling chaperone than accomplishing anything.

“Is that all?” she chuckled again. Illidan growled a sigh. With another obvious grin, Leo sheathed her long sword and got down on all fours. “All right, all right. Geez. Hold your mana buns, will you?” Illidan frowned at her, and Leo shot it right back. “You’re awfully grumpy for an old man, you know that?”

“I’m immortal, not _old.”_

“Okay, Twelve-thousand-year-old Mana Buns. Have fun staying occupied when you don’t have to save me.”

“I’m tempted to kill you myself, right now.”

“Well… I would deserve it.” Leo then shook her furry head and waved him away. “Stop stalling me. I have demons to kill.”


	12. Chapter 12

Leo was there when Illidan descended to his camp in the Antoran Wastes. Enclosed in a natural palisade of jagged, demon-defiled rock, the Veiled Den was one of the safer zones. It made a strategic base for the Illidari, allowing for prison cages, respite tents, and a smithy. Any demons brave enough to barge in were killed or held prisoner. Leo sat in a nook with her violet hippogryph, cleaning her weapon without greaves.

“How many times did you die today?” Illidan asked. He’d tried to feel for her wandering soul, but never found her. She must have fought far from his reach.

Leo glanced up like she hadn’t heard him approach. “I didn’t. Beaky took a hard hit, but he’ll be on his feet soon.”

“Then where is your armor?”

Leo gestured away without looking. Illidan glanced to see his blacksmith hard at work. “I broke a strap. Can’t change back to sew it back together.”

“You can’t sew like that?”

Leo craned to look at him. Sitting, she was little taller than his knee. “My claws are too long and I don’t have skin like you do.”

Illidan hummed. “Unfortunate. You could _use _a tougher hide.”

“Funny. _Mana Buns.”_

“We’re _both _hilarious today.” Illidan watched her a moment, then surveyed the site. “Why not let your bird heal on the ship?”

“Right. I’ll fight without pants, while I’m at it.” She set her sword aside and reached for her canteen. “That sounds like a nightmare I used to have.”

“Fighting without pants?” Illidan echoed. Humans were strange.

“Well, going outside without pants. Do you think demons would laugh at that sort of thing?” She looked up at him again.

“Imps might.”

“Good point. Come on, boy. Let’s go inside.” Leo leaned back to pet her hippogryph, remaining in that awkward position to stand. Putting weight on her leg drew a yelp of pain, though, and Leo almost fell.

Illidan frowned, now concerned he’d given her a task too harsh. “You’re injured.”

“I’ll be back to normal soon.” Leo limped her way into a full turn to help her purple bird up. She winced with every step, and tried to hide another yelp.

_“Did_ you die?” He could not read her face other than pain.

“No. But it was a close call.”

“Sathrenael?” Illidan guessed.

“No.” Leo used her sheathed sword as a walking stick. “That evil, floating octopus-eye thing. That way.” She gave a vague point somewhere behind her. “The mobs didn’t look too hard. I accidentally aggroed a third netherwalker, though, and those stupid, bossy mages who turn into eyes when you kill them.” She had an interesting point of view.

“Bossy mages?”

“That’s what Tehd calls them.”

Illidan huffed. “Marius’ pet warlock.” An undead wizard who dabbled in demonology and experimented on reversing demon portals. Marius, like most Illidari, often worked best alone, but not since he met Tehd. Illidan did not approve of undead or Marius’ fascination with Tehd, but the warlock had proven useful at times, and aided the Illidari without hesitation.

“He’s quite funny.”

“Right.” Right up her alley. Illidan watched her try to hide another wince. Her leg gave out, and the hippogryph tried to catch her, but they were both too wounded. Huntmistress and war bird met the ground in synonymous pain.

“You don’t need to say it. I know I’ve met my match,” Leo muttered as Illidan crouched near.

“I wasn’t going to. Stay here” he told her, gathering the large bird in his arms. “I’ll be back for you.”

But Leo did not stay put. As soon as Illidan set the hippogryph on the Vindicaar, Leo limped on all fours from the arrival platform.

“I told you to stay.” Illidan sighed when she fell against the wall for support, and he went to her. This was a soldier who never let a wound delay her duty, even death. For those with a high pain threshold to stagger for support, the wound was great.

“I don’t need you to save me,” Leo grumbled as Illidan took her arm.

“I’m not trying to save you. I’m trying to help. We need you at your best. You need to rest for that. ”

When Leo refused to walk with her weight on him, Illidan picked her up and walked. She gave a low growl and draped large paws over her face.

“They will _certainly _talk now.” 

Illidan didn’t mean to grin. “Tell them it’s all true.” He set her down near her feathered pet.

“I’m starting to regret fetching you from Helya.”

“You finally have something in common with Turalyon.” Illidan chuckled again when she glared at him. “Stay off your feet. I mean it. There will be plenty demons when you recover.”

“Actually, when you recover, you and I are going to Mac’Aree.” Archmage Y’mera knelt at Leo’s side with gauze and antibacterial wash.

Illidan frowned, curious. “Where is Mac’Aree?” Leo asked.

“What is _on _Mac’Aree?” Illidan asked Y’mera. He had not paid much attention to that part of Argus. The Void seeped in and corrupted much of that continent, but compared to the Legion, the Void was nothing. Legion activity there was not in as much need of attention as Krokuun and the Antoran Wastes. “Mac’Aree is the untainted land in the distance,” he told Leo.

“The Crown of the Triumvirate is there,” Y’mera said. “It is an ancient relic the Prophet believes can help us prosper against the Legion.”

“Don’t hate on me -” Leo grimaced as Y’mera unwrapped her bandage. “- But I don’t understand how things like Grace and a Relic can win wars.” Leo was allowed to speak like that to the draenei, but not Illidan.

“It will be fun! Lots of new animals for you to tame, plenty of big monsters to fight. And you will see some of the trees I grew up with. It will be like a field trip!” Y’mera grimaced at Leo’s wound, then sighed. “How you warriors acquire such grievous wounds without losing limbs…” She shook her head.

“Because everyone tells her where the big monsters are,” Illidan answered.

“Point made,” Y’mera said, lighting her hand in what Illidan recognized as an arcane healing spell.

“Why are _you _healing her and not the medic?”

Y’mera huffed. “What are you, her father? I have tended to her wounds more than anyone on board. I am more than qualified to heal the Commander.”

“Yeah, _Dad.”_ Wounded, but not lacking wit. Leo strained her neck to look at him from the floor.

Illidan glared back, arms over his chest. “I think I prefer Mana Buns.”

“So it was a _real _date? Interesting choice. Mac’Aree’s sunset colors are much more romantic,” Y’mera became part of their little joke.

“Oh, he doesn’t actually like me. Illidan has a crush on another woman.”

“Your boyfriend fancies another woman?” Y’mera shot Illidan an uncertain glance. “You have my sympathies, Leodanna.”

Illidan’s glare hardened. “It’s more complicated than that.” He paused. “Isn’t your name Leo_pol_danna?” He asked the worgen.

“Everyone calls me something different,” Leo waved it off. Illidan suspected draenei could not pronounce her full name.

“Hm. He remembered your whole name. Maybe he _does _fancy you,” Y’mera teased.

Illidan scoffed and walked away before he drove himself deeper into the joke.


	13. Chapter 13

A long blade sliced down, interrupting Illidan’s kill. A furry body dropped with a thud heavier than the giant fel bat she decapitated.

“You know, it doesn’t help you only talk to _me _on board.”

Illidan watched the Huntmaster rise to hind legs like she had not almost lost a leg earlier. “I will be honest,” he told her. “I had hoped I’d not see you again for a few more hours.”

Leo shrugged. “I was in the neighborhood.”

“Sure you were.”

“You should go see her. She’s still in Suramar. You can fly there from Dalaran in, like, three minutes.”

_Tyrande._ Leo stole his kill to talk about the one person who drove constant ache into Illidan’s heart. “You must not have heard the news: She married my brother. She chose him _centuries _ago.” _Tens of thousands of years._ Illidan shook demon blood from his warglaives and turned away. “She hasn’t wanted to see me in ages.”

“She might now.” Leo sure knew how to tempt him. Illidan glanced back to see her shrug. “She’s different than I remember. She was _quiet _in Darnassus. _Wise _and _contemplative._ She’s not like that now.”

“What is she like now?”

“Impatient. Demanding. Always ready for war. She orders me around like I’m her personal soldier.”

Illidan studied the worgen, mind on the Tyrande he knew in his youth. “She was like that when we were children.”

“Oh. Well, good to know she’s _normal _now.” She paused to wipe her long blade on the wing of the bat she beheaded. “How is impatience the sign of a spiritual leader?” she asked.

“I’m the wrong person to ask about faith,” he reminded. “Was it necessary to bring up Tyrande?”

“Have I been saying her name wrong all this time? Maybe _that’s _why she’s short with me.”

Illidan did not understand this worgen. “How do you say her name?”

“Tyrande.” Like _Tie-rand._

“It’s Tyrande,” he enunciated; _Tier-and-uh._

“Huh.” Leo’s eyes moved as she practiced saying _Tyrande._

“Why did you bring her up?”

Leo shrugged again and stepped over the dead bodies. “This is the end of the line, isn’t it? Why shouldn’t you see her one last time?” She met his stare. Illidan still could not read her.

“Tyrande does not trust me. And… I have warred against my brother for so long…” Illidan shook his head. “If they wanted to see me, they would have sought me out already.”

Leo tried to search his gaze. “They don’t know what it’s like here. _They _don’t know each day could be our last. _Your _last.”

“I find it hard to believe you are the same child who walked in as a human,” Illidan said.

“I’m not a child, I’m nineteen. That’s almost past my prime for a Gilnean.”

“Elves still wear diapers at nineteen.”

“That must be embarrassing. I was out of nappies at two.”

“It was an joke,” Illidan told her, “to emphasize how _young _nineteen years is to an elf.”

“I’m much older like this.” Leo tugged on a furry ear. “I’m middle-aged, at least. I feel old, anyway.” Then she frowned. “Don’t change the subject.”

Illidan frowned again. “I can’t see her.”

“Go with me to Dalaran then.”

“No.”

_“Illidan.”_

“I said no.” He began walking again. Women were women no matter what race; they all talked too much, about things men didn’t want to speak of.

“What if this _is _the end of the line?”

“If you are so _eager _for _death, _Huntmaster-”

“Don’t you want her to know you’ve changed?” Leo interrupted his train of thought in whole.

Illidan turned again to face her. Staring up at him like she wouldn’t leave until he gave her an answer that satisfied. “I can’t.” If he convinced Tyrande he was not the monster she assumed… she still chose Malfurion long ago. Illidan had no chance with the woman he sought to destroy the Legion for. Hope, in his case, was not enough.

Leo stared a moment longer before nodding. “Okay.” She sheathed her sword, and a long furry arm pointed away. “I will be over there, fighting all the big things. I may need saving in about ten minutes.” And like that, she bounded away.

As if she had not exposed his aching heart on the battlefield.


	14. Chapter 14

_“Something_ is _following _you.”Illidan glared in revolt at the little green, slimy, amphibious person trailing Leo’s steps.

Leo looked down by her feet with a crunchy bite of a large egg. The little murloc looked far up when it waddled into her ankle. Illidan grimaced at the high-pitched babble of question it gave Leo. He scoffed when Leo’s eyes crinkled and a clear smile spread on her furry face.

“Isn’t he so cute? I call him Squirky.”

_Cute?_ She _liked _those distasteful little vermin?

She reached down to tickle its head with the side of her claw. The baby murloc babbled another high-pitched noise, and Leo the mighty demon-slaying, fanged Huntmaster giggled like a child with a kitten.

Illidan groaned and turned back to the console. He’d only returned to the Vindicaar, but he was ready to see the demon-infested planet again. He thought he’d managed to escape murlocs for good.

“Leaving so soon?” Romuul asked in surprise.

“With the frog here? I may never come back.”

As if the baby murloc understood Illidan, it asserted a disapproving _bah-rah-rah-la-la _at him.

Illidan glared back at the tiny thing; even smaller than a gnome. “Don’t talk back to your elders.”

Leo raised furry brows with another crunchy bite. “Illidan Stormrage, are you arguing with a _baby?”_

Illidan shifted the glare to her. “You _had _to make this worse.”

Leo laughed. “I’m not the one arguing with a cute little baby.”

“Those things are _not _cute.” He watched her take another crunchy bite. “You eat the shells?” Worgen weren’t as tasteful as they were in human form.

“Why not?” A last crunchy bite left gooey, dripping yolk behind on her furry fingers. Illidan grimaced again when she licked it off.

“But it is _raw._ Revolting,” he said.

Leo’s eyes locked on him as she licked the last drips from her fingers. “Says the man with _arms _coming out of his back.”

Illidan frowned harder. He did not return for this.

In fact, in the sudden distraction, he forgot what he came aboard for.

Without another glance at Leo or her hideous pet, Illidan directed the console to send him to Krokuun.

And he sighed deep and hard when Leo stepped off the transporter after him.

“What?” She searched the blindfold over his eyes.

Illidan looked down before answering. No murloc at her paws.

“Oh, that’s right. You don’t understand how people like them.”

“I do not.”

“That’s a shame. Squirky is sweet. He’s too young for battle, though. He’s staying on board.”

“Good.” Illidan started off, but halted when Leo began along side him on all fours. “No.” He turned to her. “Not today, Commander.”

_“Commander?” _She rose to hind legs. “Ouch.” Leo had a point. Illidan had not called her by her Alliance title since the Xe’ra incident.

“I-” Illidan cut himself off and muffled a sigh. “- am not in the mood for… _company _today.”

“Company? Oh, I see. You’re breaking up with me. All right, that’s fine. See you later, Mana Buns.” She turned and waved.

Illidan growled at her backside before rushing off to put her from sight.

But not a mile down the way, and her voice sounded in his ear.

“Illidan? Can you hear me? Hey Romuul, can _everyone _hear me on this?”

“What the--” Illidan looked around and felt his head before he remembered the new communication devices Romuul configured the day before. He took the small clip from his ear and looked at it before hooking it back on. He growled again to himself before depressing the second groove. “Top for the ship,” he told her.

He _really _wanted to complain he could not get away from his chaperone even when she left.

“Oh.” Ticks and clacks replaced her voice for a moment. “These are impressive. Uncomfortable, but neat. How far is their range?”

Illidan sighed. “I am _really _not in the mood for your chatter.”

“All right, fine. Just playing with new toys. Oh, wait! Did you know your -”

_“Leo.”_ Illidan cut her off.

“Fine, geez. I’ll figure it out myself.” Then silence.

A sigh flooded Illidan’s body. Now he could clear his mind and kill demons. Then he could head to his camp and find out why the Veiled Den disappeared from communication sensors. He had a feeling these new ear devices interfered with ground reception.

But it was not much longer before Leo’s voice returned: “Illidan?”

_“What?”_ he growled, still irritated she’d greeted him by demeaning him. She may relate to his scars, but they were once adversaries; even if by mistake. And not every moment was meant for joking. Illidan slammed his hoof and sliced his weapon to crumble the inferno, then he stood to listen.

“Have you been to the Veiled Den today?” A strong Gilnean accent. Wherever Leo was, she stood as a human. Which meant Illidan would need to save her in a minute.

“I meant to arrive earlier, but then _you _arrived, and now I’m here so I can find silence.” Illidan almost bit his own tongue. It was not wise to drive his only ally away. He needed patience with this mortal. “Leo, listen-”

“Illidan, your _people!” _

Illidan’s blazing eyes darted. “What?”

“Your _camp, _the _Illidari_… Illidan, it’s _all gone.” _It was then he heard the shock in her voice.

Illidan hung his head with a lump in his throat. He had needed to go sooner. He should have _seen _it. He should have gone straight there instead of returning to the Vindicaar first. Returning only caused distraction.

“Illidan?” Leo worried. He heard that clear enough.

“I’m on my way.”

He didn’t need to cut his way to the Veiled Den. Bodies of Legion hounds, infernals, and eredar made a path from the nearest Lightforge beacon like a welcome carpet all for him. Leo turned and met his gaze as Illidan slowed to a stop. Human faces were easier to read: Leo was horrified, and worried.

Illidan looked around, gripping his warglaives tighter with each burning body he counted. Green flames licked at bodies and equipment alike. Some remains were so charred he could only identify demon from his followers if armor had remnants of Illidari inscriptions. Fresher dead burning fiends lay by piles of charred remains.

“They were _eating _them when I arrived,” Leo said. She had every right to be horrified. Illidan had seen - and caused - massacres. Most were not so cruel. From the position of the dead, many were ripped apart while still alive.

_His _people.

Illidan fumbled with the device on his ear. Romuul could target specific people or places by energy signatures. Illidan hoped it work for tracking trails. “Artificer, there is fel fire all over my Den. Can you trace the caster?”

“So that is what happened. Yes, one moment.”

Illidan looked over while Romuul went silent in work. Leo stared back, more troubled than he’d seen her.

“How could they have been overwhelmed?” she asked.

Illidan shook his head. A surprise attack, or a new vile brute. It was possible the Legion even tricked them under guise of hounds or critters, then morphed into true form upon landing. It already proved itself more cunning than Illidan knew.

Romuul’s voice sounded: “The cause of fire came from the hill across the center bridge.”

“The Void Warden?” Illidan asked.

“No, the stage beyond. I suspect it is what the Legion was trying to summon this week.”

Illidan looked over at the low growl. Leo’s face distorted in ire, holding his stare, seething so hard she began to shake. She only left for the city the other day because they had determined, as a group, it was safest to see what the Legion meant to conjure. They did not want to go in unprepared.

Now it was too late.

Leo transformed before his eyes again, this time ready to shred the enemy. Illidan may disagree with her at times, but she was on _his _side. Fangs bared and ready to go. She would help him pay the Legion in kind.

“We’ll return when it is lying in pieces.”

“Ah, going on another date?” Romuul said.

Illidan’s hooves chased after Leo, no urge to argue. Passion awaited them up the hill. “Yes.”

“Take caution. It’s signature is vast.”

Leo beat Illidan across the bridge. Illidan took cue from her: chased and hit as they ran for vengeance, but did not stop. The hill was littered with elite that attacked in whirlwinds and fel rain, but for once it did not slow Leo. Fierce, ripping demonic eredar apart with claw and teeth faster than many could cast or draw. She carved a path for Illidan to engage the enormous fel colossus; Romuul had not exaggerated. After the first two bites, she stopped yelping at the poisonous blood in her mouth. _Demonslayer _with no regard.

As tall as Illidan was to Leo, the monstrosity towered over him threefold. It put Illidan at the perfect spot. He would topple it from below, also cutting exposure to its burning aura. Leo joined at last, throwing her weight into a leg. Illidan seized the moment and wedged his blade in the gap at the knee, twisting to make room for his other glaive. When pummeling no longer worked, Leo drew her sword and shoved. Illidan’s tattoos burned with the fel from his eyes. He seared the enormous infernal till it lost a foot, then a leg, till his markings blazed with their own flames. Wings spread to give him height, Illidan did not stop till the monstrosity crumbled and the head lobbed off.

Illidan’s wings gave out. He hit the ground hard, smothering flames beneath him while his own flames died. It was almost like fighting Xe’ra again. Illidan took his time recovering on the fel-stained ground, shuddering from the burn still alive in his skin. It was moments before he remembered he was not alone.

“Leo?”

The raging hound was still, though. _And on fire. _Illidan muttered a curse and pushed up to his feet, only to drop again at her side. The Antoran wastes held little water, but what Illidan summoned quenched the flames. Still Leo did not move. So charred from fel fire most her hair was gone.

“Illidan, the energy is massing back together!" Romuul’s voice rushed through the device.

They had to leave. Illidan picked up the hairless worgen and ran to a clearing. “Get us out of here!” he told the Artificer. He streamed a healing spell straight from his hands to the body he clutched. Leo’s soul had not released; she held on for something.

Leo changed again. While Illidan’s spell licked her wounds and the Light surrounded them, limbs shrank, talons became nails, and the wolf disappeared. By the time the Vindicaar surrounded them, Leo was human again. Raw and unconscious, and limp without life. Illidan hoped he was not too late.

The medic and Y’mera rushed over to take her, but Illidan pushed them aside and folded his wings around his chaperone. Leo took it upon herself to avenge the Illidari, and in Illidan’s desire to end what killed his people, Leo died; worse than she’d died yet. She would recover under any magic, but… this was _his _doing. He offended her, dismissed her twice more in one hour, yet she helped him anyway.

_He _would see this done.


	15. Chapter 15

By the time she stirred, burn scars had healed and hair regrew. Aside from a shorter mane, Leo was back to the human she did not relate to. Limbs tucked in, nestling in to his warmth, tiny fingers flexed and grabbed. So small compared to him he almost could not feel her hands upon him.

Illidan wondered if his mother felt like this after birth.

Not that he wanted to play _House _with this worgen.

Her head stirred, mouth moved like she meant to talk, and dark lashes took their time reawakening her to light.

Leo stared and blinked at Illidan until a frown creased her face. “Am I dead?”

“Not anymore.” Illidan retracted his wings. At that moment, Lothraxion walked by, making it seem Illidan’s wings were a window shade revealing the sun.

Leo cringed and hid her face. “The _Light!” _Illidan smiled and spread his wings again. Humor even in pain.

… He needed to apologize.

But he did not know how.

“How do you feel?”

Leo rubbed and widened her eyes. Blinking to adjust, she reached over and pushed Illidan’s wing to peer out. “Better. Like I woke up from a concussion.” For that to be _better _emphasized her gravity toward injury.

“You may have had one.”

Better, but not recovered enough to balance. Leo fell out of his hold and off the cushion when she meant to lean over.

Illidan got to his feet and moved her back on the cushions. “You may still have one,” teasing, but a possibility. He knelt beside her bed of pillows and held her face still so he could see her eyes; so small in his hand. Disoriented at least. “You should rest for a day.”

“A _day?”_ she complained. She moved his hand away, still struggling to focus beyond her reach. “Did we kill it?”

“For now. They always return.” Illidan studied her. “Stay on board, Leo. I have to gather more Illidari.”

“No.” She pushed herself up. “I want to go.”

“No. You need rest,” he repeated.

_“Illidan-”_

“Leo.” He braced her shoulders to keep her from standing. She winced like he was not being fair.

It was not easy admitting an ally evolved to something more. She followed him with the same passion his Illidari did. And like the rest of his followers, she became his responsibility because of it. He worried for her. Even harder admitting he made a mistake she paid for.

“Stay. _Please,” _he added.

This was not supposed to happen. Illidan was not supposed to make friends. He had a mission to complete. The Huntmaster was meant to be a means to an end, nothing more.

But she was beginning to be more.

Illidan rose and walked away. He could not afford _more._


	16. Chapter 16

Illidan took one step, and a familiar soul materialized on the transporter behind him.

He turned and faced Leo with arms crossed at his chest. Covered in fur and armor, she stared back like he’d caught her in an act. Even hounds could not hide guilt.

“I thought I told you to stay?” Illidan reminded her.

Leo tossed her head and wiped guilt away. “I thought you didn’t like being called Dad?” she retorted. Illidan turned as she strode past him.

“I’ve been called worse things.”

“Like Mana Buns?’

Illidan caught the uncertain gaze of an Illidari passing by at the wrong moment. “Believe it or not, worse.” He should not be surprised she was on her feet fighting again. She healed faster as a hound, at least. “You took a hard fall, Leo.”

“I’m fine. Death never stops me.” She reached as tall as she could to pinch his cheek. “Your concern is adorable, though.” Illidan frowned.

“Damn me for worrying.”

“We’re already damned. Don’t curse us worse.” Back to normal without a trace of injury. A cycle that would continue for the rest of her life, no doubt. Illidan wondered if _everyone _worried for her.

He unfolded his arms and held out a twine-wrapped package with a unique emblem engraved. Leo took it in both hands, and furry brows jumped.

“A Warden field kit?” She searched him, voice expressing what worgen faces did not. “Where did _you _get this?”

“An unfortunate surprise encounter with Maiev in Dalaran,” he told her.

“And… she was so thrilled to see you she gave you a field kit?” Leo guessed.

“In a sense.” Illidan avoided carrying coin when he could help it, so Maiev settled for a trade: Illidan eliminated a threat near the Warden camp. “You said you like their rations.”

As if her eyes weren’t wide enough. “You talked to _Maiev _for _me?”_

Illidan shifted his weight to one foot. It was getting awkward. “Consider it a peace offering.”

Confused worgen cocked their heads like normal confused hounds. “Did we have a falling out when I was loopy?”

Illidan hesitated. He would almost rather face Maiev again than explain his regret to his… _friend. _“It is… an _apology._ Leave it at that. _Please.” _He felt Leo’s eyes on him as he walked away.

“Thank you…”

Illidan made it halfway down the ramp, worrying his face was inflamed, when a tiny voice stopped his tracks. The little floppy green frog on two legs looked far up at Illidan like it forgot what it was doing.

_“Erro?” _

Illidan now knew he spent far too much time with Leo. He swore this revolting little… _murloc_ just greeted him.

“... Hello.” Illidan didn’t know what else to do. He did not want to stand there talking to a murloc… but this was where he first went wrong with Leo. Allowing it to irritate him led to worse.

A bony elbow nudged his hip. “I think he likes you,” Leo said.

Illidan bit his tongue and glared at her.

Her brows raised again. “Want to go on another date?” she quipped.

Illidan exhaled hard through his nose. _“Yes.”_


	17. Chapter 17

Leo had not helped set the Veiled Den up before. While out of her element with Illidari equipment, Leo was more than happy to clear the surrounding area. Like a theatre act, she ran by the entry wrestling fel hounds or chasing imps, or fell in from above with her teeth in a bat. Darted in for alcohol to get _the taste_ out of her mouth after chasing more hounds. It took eight or so interruptions before Leo’s sporadic methods no longer surprised the Illidari who never saw a worgen in their lives.

Leo raced around the corner into the Den once more. “Illidan!” She skidded to a stop on all fours. “I need your help.”

Illidan huffed, amused. “Not if you’re still alive.”

“That stupid wyrmtongue is back. He’s almost killed me three times now.”

“You speak to _Lord Illidan,_ not an Alliance grunt,” the quartermaster asserted.

“Is that so?” Leo rose to two legs, staring at her, ready to retort. With the same glare, she looked at Illidan and bowed the best a worgen could. “Mighty Lord of fel and height, if it _pleases _Your Majesty, I need help kicking ass.”

_Of fel and height._ Illidan couldn’t help a smile. “It’s all right, Ilthara. Leopoldanna is one of us.”

“Forgive me, Master Illidan.” Ilthara rushed away after a uncomfortable pause.

Leo snorted and turned away. Then craned her neck to peer at him. “I’m what?”

Illidan drew his warglaives and gestured out. “Don’t lose your focus. We have ass to kick.”

“I’m beginning to enjoy our dates,” Illidan said as the vile wyrmtongue fell with its insides exposed.

Leo wiped smoking gunk off her ear in disgust. “This isn’t a date.”

“It’s not?”

“I just wanted to see you kill something I couldn’t.”

Illidan chuckled. “Now I feel used.”

“Don’t let your Illidari hear that.” She froze, then met his gaze. “What did you mean, _‘shes one of us’?”_

Illidan searched her. “Are you not Illidari?”

“I’m not an elf with blinky eyes. I can’t fly, either.” Her perspective never failed to amuse.

Illidan smiled. “You bowed and called me Lord,” he teased.

Leo winced. “You have low standards, Illidan.”

“If _you _are a _low standard,_ I’m waiting to see where the Alliance hides its best.”

Leo laughed like she didn’t mean to. “One and the same, darling.”

“So this _is _a date.”

Leo watched him while she sheathed her sword. “All right,” she nodded. “It can be a date.”

“Good. My _morale _was beginning to fall.” He grinned at her husky giggle. “Come. It’s time we vacation.” Illidan started off.

“Where do you have in mind?”

“Didn’t Y’mera say Mac’Aree was romantic this time of year?”

“She will proud. She will also hate you for whisking me away before she could.”

“Competing with a draenei sorceress." His life _had not_ grown so ridiculous.

Had it?


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> READ AT OWN RISK.

“Why don’t you ever wear a shirt?” Leo asked.

“Why don’t you ever wear shoes?” Illidan shot back.

“Have you ever seen shoes that fit worgen feet?”

“Same principle,” Illidan answered.

“Sure it is.” Leo eyed with narrowing eyes.

“What?” Illidan challenged. “Am I not _good _enough for you now? Is there someone _else _you go on dates with?”

Leo snorted.

Illidan hoped she understood he was joking.

Leo strayed from the conversation to look over the horizon. “Have you ever been here?” From where they stood, Mac’Aree was still pure. Scans from the ship said otherwise, but where they stood, growing grass, vibrant foliage, and families of colorful wildlife painted a thriving land.

“First time.” In the flesh, at least. The land looked different from his astral vist, back before the Black Temple incident. 

“I don’t really want to fight anything here.”

“No?” Illidan saw her point, though. From where they stood, the only things close to hostile were lost spirits and ancient guardian mechs, but none interested in those outside their routes.

Leo shook her head. “I kind of want to have a picnic. Do you see a lake? That would make this perfect.”

“I agree.” He could see far enough, but to focus on one specific distant thing was painful. Part of him also wanted to explore. He wanted to smell clean land, listen to its life. “I will go west, and you east?” Illidan pointed.

She looked up at him. “You think I won’t need saving here?”

Illidan frowned at the critters romping around trees. “You’re right. The _natives _here are_ menacing.”_

Leo chuckled and dropped to all fours. “Let me know if you find a lake. If you don’t hear from me, I’ve found one and I’m swimming.”

“Or you’ve _died _to one of these_ terrifying locals.” _Illidan flashed her a grin before running for a ledge.

Such a different world, here. Aggressive talbuk chased him only for a stretch, then returned to their herds. Marsuls and their kits paid him no mind, as if demon hunters were part of the scenery. Disturbed souls seemed to disorient after so many paces and forgot all about him. Even if the land was cursed, it had harmony. And not a trace of the Legion anywhere.

Colors like a sunset, bright marsuls playing under trees, blue talbuks with peach foals. Off in the distance, indigo cats pounced and slept. Floral hues of the flying rays and a soft breeze completed the garden-like feel in this corner of the world. Like a place to take a lover; _romantic _to the leaf. And ahead lay a sparkling surface: a lake, clear and pure like the lakes Illidan played in as a child.

Y’mera had not been wrong. Mac’Aree was a sight.

A beautiful face flashed in his mind, and Illidan ached. _Tyrande._ How he’d give for one last hour with her at a place like this. Free of distraction and corruption where he could bare it all… and she would decide to be his. _Just for a moment._

_It could happen._

Couldn’t it?

Illidan stood at the lake before he realized he’d approached. Lost in thought… _and alone._ And, as he looked harder at a dark wave in the lake, not free of corruption.

A serpent, massive with fangs to match; large for such a small lake. The beast turned, and scales at the jaw shimmered bright green in the sunlight. _Fel._ The Legion was here after all. Small steps to twice-corrupt the void corruption beyond, no doubt.

“I found the Legion,” a familiar voice said in his ear. Familiar and welcome, but disparate from the woman he longed to hear.

Illidan reached up and depressed a button. _“I _found something _better.”_

“What could be better than demons?” Leo replied like he was crazy.

Illidan smiled. “I found a lake.”

“You didn’t! Did you?”

_“And_ a monster taller than me.”

“Not possible.” He could almost hear Leo shake her head. Another apparent running joke; many demons were taller than Illidan.

“Come at once, or I will kill it without you,” he said.

A perfect distraction from his lonesome thoughts.

Leo arrived on two legs with a digit aiming behind her. “There is a tournament back there!” she said. “Do you want to try it? Romuul said it was a tradition back in the day. He thinks we might be welcome to spar.”

_“Fight _you?” Illidan asked in doubt.

“Why not? Do you see anyone else here?” she gestured around.

Illidan shook his head. “I’ve already done that. I _learned _my lesson.”

“I’ll let you win!” she tried to change his mind.

“Tempting, but I’ll pass.”

She sighed and drew her sword. “Fine. Where is this monster?”

Illidan pointed into the lake. “There. Do you see the fel scales?”

“Does the Legion have something against lakes? _Ooh, _its_ fangs!” _Leo’s eyes lit up and she grabbed Illidan’s arm.

_“Told_ you this is better.”


	19. Chapter 19

“So what’s wrong?” Leo asked.

Illidan watched the massive serpent fall down into the nothing before he looked at his partner. “What do you mean?”

“You look sad. Well, not now, but when I arrived.”

“I look _sad?”_ he echoed.

“Yeah.” Leo searched his face for a moment. “You should talk to her, Illidan.”

_How_ did she know when Tyrande was on his mind?

Illidan watched her turn away. A series of jerks, and Leo stood as a human once more. “You know I can’t do that.”

“I don’t believe that.” She pulled straps to tighten her armor for a smaller frame.

“I don’t want to talk about Tyrande.” Illidan watched Leo pull a package from her belt and sit.

“Why not? It clearly aches you.”

_“Clearly,”_ he echoed her again. Illidan shook his head, but joined her at the lakeside. “How is it you know so much about me?”

“Xe’ra showed me.” She put a piece of food in her mouth, then looked over.

Illidan couldn’t help the frown. “How does _Xe’ra _show you about _me?”_

_“Showed,_ not shows.” Leo washed the bite down with a scoop of lake water.

“I… wouldn’t drink that,” Illidan told her too late. “The Legion set a_ mutant monster_ in there, remember?”

“If I die, you’re here to save my body.”

“How fortunate.”

“Anyhow,” Leo continued, “before I found you in Helya’s... _garden,_ Xe’ra sent me on a series of missions to learn about… you.” She turned her head and met his stare. ”I tend to forget unless someone mentions Xe’ra, and the last time she was here, she--”

Illidan nodded, recalling all too well. An uncomfortable memory. Illidan looked away. “What did she show you?”

“I saw where you were born. She showed me your time as Ravencrest’s Commander, when the Legion first invaded.”

“Do you _despise _my actions there? Like _my _kind do?”

“No.” She shook her head. “I saw things as if I was you. I understand why.”

Illidan peeked at her. “How did you see as if you were_ me?”_

Leo paused in thought. “I don’t quite understand, still. I saw you from… ‘haps the distance we are now, but I heard your thoughts, and I felt your emotions.”

“You’ve been inside my head. _Wonderful.”_

“That’s _how _I know you _miss _her, Illidan.” For such a small human, she could stare like a stern mother. “If this is really the end for us… she should know.”

Illidan glared. He didn’t mean to, but he did long enough for Leo to look away.

“Fine. _Ignore _me. What could a _child _know anyway?” she muttered.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“You’ve called me a child.”

“I called you _young,”_ he reminded. “That is not the same.” _Wait, _he did. The first day she showed up as a human. “Nevermind,” Illidan muttered.

For the life of him, he could not apologize to this… _friend._

“You related my age to infant elves. I’m just trying to _help,_ Illidan, since _I’m _the one who _sees _you both.”

Illidan thought with care before he spoke. He had upset her again. But she was his closest ally. _Friend._ He didn’t _want _a friend, but there she was. It was not wise under any logic to distance her.

He didn’t know what to say, though. He had not _had _friends in… since childhood. Allies did not need apologizing to, and the Illidari did not insult each other; mistakes were made and corrected, or those who lost control killed each other. Friends, it seemed, worked a different way.

“That… diaper remark was a joke. I thought you understood that.” From the look on her face, that did not help either. Illidan took a deep breath. “What else did Xe’ra show you?”

Leo chewed and swallowed before answering. She seemed glad for a change of topic. “I saw you in Outland, at your Temple. When we fought.” She did not return his gaze.

“You saw our battle from _my _perspective?”

Leo nodded. “That’s how I know I made a mistake.”

Illidan could not stop staring. More than they were both their scars, _that _was why she tried to stop Xe’ra. Why she followed his lead and pushed for the factions to heed his advice. Illidan thought back to Broken Isles and how Leo dropped all plans to help his Illidari when she neared their camps. She had been helping _him,_ not the Alliance, all along. She _believed _in him.

He understood why she befriended him, now, as well. Because of Xe’ra, Leo knew him inside and out. She was trying to make the end of his line easier; as she said a moment ago. She even believed this the end of _her _line - did she plan to die for him?

Illidan walked closer and held down his hand. Leo looked from his hand to his face in question. “Earlier, you said you couldn’t be Illidari because you’re not an elf with wings and fel eyes.” When she did not take his hand, Illidan knelt before her. “You have _been _Illidari.” _Without question. _


	20. Chapter 20

Leo did not return. At first, Illidan told Romuul to contact him if Leo came through the transporter. When almost a week past, Illidan began spending more time on the Vindicaar to watch for her return. Leo’s rate of death was high, and with her hippogryph was on the ship, she was alone. With good reason, Illidan worried she died where she could not revive.

The Legion began growing desperate. When fel bombardment did not destroy the Vindicaar’s shields, the demons resorted to the Paraxis - a rain of fel fire upon the surface of Argus. Those caught in it died in up to two hits, forcing their troops to retreat where the Light could shield. Since only two Army of the Light camps had such shields, most took shelter on the Vindicaar.

This was the Legion’s second Paraxis attack in three days. All Illidari were on board, along with their caged prisoners and officers’ mounts. They had no choice but to wait out the fel rain.

“It is like a _party _in here. Where is the sparkling ball on the ceiling?” Leo’s voice made its way through the crowded Vindicaar.

_Figures_ she was safe and her spirited self.

Leo wedged her way to the ramp and up to Romuul. Illidan peered over, a silent grudge she had not come to _him _first. She _always _came to Illidan first. “Look what I found in my vault!”

Romuul’s eyes grew and he took one of the bottles from her. Bright yellow with swirls of orange. Romuul chuckled. “I remember the first time we drank this.”

Leo’s husky hound laugh rang loud. “Right at the hearth like it says not to!”

“The only time I’ve ever laughed while on fire.” Romuul’s eyes crinkled.

Leo uncorked her bottle, still giggling. “Velen, can we start a fire here?”

_“No.”_ The old Prophet narrowed his eyes in curiosity.

“Not even a little one?”

“There is enough fire outside, if you wish to be set aflame.”

“Do _not _encourage her,” Illidan told the old man. “She sets herself on fire enough as it is.”

_“Aww.”_ The hound’s face fell, then perked back up a second later. “Oh well. _Cheers,_ Romuul!” She held her bottle up.

_“Yes. _To Pinchwhistle! And her incredible talent to make being burned alive fun--”

Illidan groaned to himself and turned his gaze far beyond, tuning them out. He had not given Romuul’s acquaintance with Leo thought before, but… she was as friendly with him as she was with Illidan. Could people have more than one friend? Illidan had only considered Tyrande as such, but that was no more; he had no other _friends_ growing up, and none close like her. Even his Illidari were only followers of his cause. Perhaps there was more Illidan needed to learn about Leo’s life at her Garrison.

“Do you want some?” Leo’s voice interrupted his thoughts. Illidan looked down to see her holding the bright drink up.

Illidan grimaced. Alcohol prone to set the drinker on fire? “No.”

Leo gestured outside like she had not noticed the Paraxis before. “What is that?”

“The reason for this _party,”_ Illidan told her. “In your absence, the Legion decided we were a nuisance. The _Paraxis _is their idea of _pest control.”_

“In my absence? _Aww,_ they _missed _me?”

Illidan stared in uncertainty. “Are you drunk?”

Leo shook her head. “Not yet.” Illidan found himself impressed a hound could drink from a bottle.

“Now is as good a time as any,” Romuul added. “We will be here a while.”

_“Thank_ you,” Illidan said aloud, trying to eject Romuul from _his _conversation without outright saying so.

Leo searched him. “Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?”

“I do not sleep,” he informed her. Not often, if he could afford it.

“That’s jargon,” she said, “for _You’re cranky.”_ Leo curled her snout up at the bottle and capped it. “So what is wrong?”

“What is wrong? I am stuck on a ship packed to the brim like canned fruit when I should be out there.”

“I think you have cabin fever.”

“Since when are you a medic?”

She perked up and faced him. “Let’s go to Dalaran!”

“You were just _in _Dalaran, for a _week.”_

“No, I wasn’t _there _for a week. The Legion tried to invade Highmountain,” she said as if it was a casual thing. Illidan searched her. “Then as soon we repelled them _there,_ they opened portals in Val’sharah. Then I had to check on the hunter’s lodge. Then I trained my hatchlings a bit. Lots of running around.” She had to be a little drunk. Leo _never _talked so much at once. “Come on! You’ll like it! I’ll buy you dinner.” She nudged his arm like it was he wanted all along.

“No.” Illidan was not sure about this side of her.

Leo stared at him with small eyes. Then she pulled three vials from her belt. Almost as soon as she emptied green and violet potions into her mouth, Leo began to grow. Illidan stared as she rose taller. She did not stop growing until she reached his collar.

Illidan stood taken aback, mind wiped blank from her sudden change. _“Hello,”_ he said.

Leo looked over and sighed, disappointed. “Damn. I was hoping it would make me taller than you.”

“Why are you trying to be taller than me?”

“So I can boss you around and you can’t say no.”

Illidan didn’t mean to laugh. “That’s almost cute.”

She gave a low growl, lip curling up to show fangs, reminding Illidan of a puppy trying to play.

He tried to quell another laugh, but could not contain it. “Yeah. Cute.”

“I am _not _cute. I am _supposed _to be _bossy.”_

“It is a little cute.” Illidan studied her. No difference aside from height. “Also much easier to _look _at you.”

Leo hesitated. “I can’t argue that. I do get awful cricks in my neck trying to talk to you.”

Illidan let loose another quiet laugh. “A mutual ache.”

That feeling was gone, the one that said Leo should talk to _him,_ not Romuul. All was well again.

Illidan nodded. “All right. Let’s go to the city.” Might as well. At least he would have his friend all to himself.


	21. Chapter 21

Illidan did not like the city. Despite he loathed the Horde, it was not even their presence which appalled him. Dalaran was a human structure. Everything was a _box._ With exception of the streets, every building, every room was a stone box with a doorway. Nothing was natural. While the Kal’dorei had select buildings to protect from the elements, everything else worked around the trees and land. Air could flow, vines grew. Life came in and out as it pleased. But not with the stuffy, stale air of human shops and inns.

And… there were _people._ Dalaran was crowded; a city growing without expanding. Guards stood at every corner and almost every doorway. Couriers, children, peddlers… With an Ethereal transmogrifier in town, it was hard to tell citizens and soldiers apart. Chaos in disguise of _trade _and _order. _Illidan didn’t dare step hoof in the sewers.

“What did you want to do here? _Eat?”_ he asked Leo. They had not left the landing yard.

“Anything. You seem restless.”

“I am.” Illidan looked over. She still stood to his shoulders. “How long do those potions last?”

“I don’t know.” Leo looked down at her legs. “I want to say an hour. But I haven’t used them in a while.”

Illidan opened his mouth, but another voice sounded instead.

“Commander?_ Commander!_ Commander Leop- _Oof!_” the yelling person ran smack into an Orc dismounting a bat.

Illidan huffed in amusement and leaned closer, arms over his chest. “Did you hear that? The city has a new name for you_. Leopoof.”_

Leo growled, and Illidan chuckled. _“Mana Buns,”_ she uttered to him.

Illidan grinned. “I’ll suffer it to call you _Leopoof.” _

The runner was an initiate of the Kirin Tor; large, bold eye on her robes and no idea how to approach ranks like _Commander._ “Commander -” she paused to catch breath.

_“Leopoof,_ right?” Illidan finished for her. Leo growled again and pushed him; it had no effect. Illidan chuckled again.

“Yes.” The mage nodded. Eyes flew wide and she shook her head fast. “I mean no! _No, _Commander -” she huffed again. “Archdruid Malfurion requests your presence in Val’Sharah!”

_“What?”_ Like that, Illidan’s mood soured.

_“Malfurion?”_ Leo had never looked more in doubt. _“Why? _I was just there two days ago.”

“We don’t know. He just sent a message asking to send you as soon as you arrived,” the apprentice rushed.

His brother wasn’t satisfied with Tyrande? He had to take _this _one too? _“No.”_ Illidan shook his head, frowning. Leo looked at him, but Illidan glared at the mage. “You can tell him _I_ said so. He already _has _a hunter. _This _one is_ mine.”_

Leo’s furry brows and ears perked. The initiate stared up at Illidan with large eyes; he gathered if he shouted, she might wet herself.

Leo looked at the mage in hesitation. “I’ll… leave in a minute.”

Illidan’s gaze flew. _“What?”_

Leo sighed and excused the girl, then faced Illidan. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“It is _not _nothing.”

_“Unfortunately,_ since I do everyone’s dirty work, I’m sort of an _envoy__.”_ Leo winced, and changed before his eyes again. Her tallest as a human only reached his navel. Leo pulled her belt tighter and looked up at him. “He’s treated me more as a friend than outside help since… Outland.” Her eyes trailed away.

Since she killed Illidan at the Black Temple.

And now Illidan regarded her as Illidari. “Even _more _reason not to meet him.”

“He already knows I brought you back to the world,” she said. “It hasn’t changed anything, other than a warning of caution. Which I _clearly _ignored.”

Illidan’s disapproval came out as a scoff. _“Fine._ Just-” he turned away with a sigh. “Meet you back on the ship.”

He _knew _friends were a bad idea.


	22. Chapter 22

“You’re hard to track down when you don’t want to be found.”

Crouched on a cliff, Illidan looked over. Leo rose to hind legs and came near. “Your presence here says otherwise.”

_“Listen,_ Mr. Smart-Ass.”

Illidan snorted.

“Romuul said the Paraxis has been gone hours. I know you can see everything when you want to.” _Romuul._

“Did he track me down for you?”

“No. What do you think this snout is for?” Leo tapped her nose.

“You sniffed me out. _Charming,” _he joked.

“You haven’t asked me what your brother said.”

Illidan paused and breathed deep. “I have not.”

“You don’t want to know anymore?”

“I did not want to know before.”

Leo stared for a moment, then shrugged and sat. “Suit yourself.”

“Now you’re testing me.”

“I wouldn’t dare. You could _eye _blast me and _soar away_ before I could see _who did_ it.”

Illidan let out a laugh. “Fine. What did my brother want that _his _hunter could not do?”

Leo leaned away to stare. “All right, this is bothering me.” She removed two vials from her belt and chugged. Illidan watched her grow again. Both so near the ground, they were almost eye level now.

_“Better._ Thank you.”

“It’s _strange _when you’re polite.” She shook her head. Another running joke.

“What _did _my brother want?”

Leo hesitated. “What does _Sargeras _look like?”

Illidan frowned. “Why do you ask?”

“Malfurion said he had a vision. He said I led an army of demons, then followed Sargeras to a distant planet.” Leo looked over, and for a moment, they stared. “He told me it was _your _doing.”

Illidan made a noise and scowled. _“Dear_ brother.”

“Can worgen _become _demons?” she asked.

“That is… unlikely.” If he was honest, he did not know for sure. His conclusion came from initiating followers, and the attrition rate was high enough. “Elves do not age, we aren’t susceptible to disease like mortals are. There is a correlation between immunity and surviving the fel corruption, and even then the risk is great.” Illidan watched her. “He thinks I’m turning you into a demon?”

“That is more or less how it sounded. Or _influencing _me.”

“So he still thinks _I_ follow Sargeras. And you’ll follow me _after _him, is that right?”

“He did say you were in the dream. He warned me about looking up to you.”

Illidan grimaced and looked away. “What did you _tell _my _wise brother?”_

“I told him if the world depends on me _not _looking up to you, _we’re all_ doomed. _Potions _can’t even help me.” She held up the vials she emptied not moments ago. Illidan snorted. He _hoped _she told Malfurion that.

His gaze moved when he felt her stare. “What?”

_“You_ were _worried _about me.”

“I find myself worrying about you a_ lot. _You _die _at least twice a day.”

“I know. But I mean when the mage -”

“Called you_ Leopoof?”_ he teased. Her snout wrinkled in a snarl, and Illidan grinned.

_“After_ that. You not only worried. _You _were _possessive.”_

Illidan’s smile disappeared. Here she was forcing another heart-to-heart on him. An answer was necessary, though; were they lovers instead, he would not need to. “Long ago, my brother gained sympathy and ruined my name _more _by telling others he had a nightmare.” Illidan looked over the fel-stained horizon. “In that dream, Tyrande had chosen _me,_ and because of it, she became a demon.”

“No one wanted to see their beloved High Priestess turn into a demon,” Leo concluded.

Illidan nodded. “I have not had a friend since Tyrande in my youth. Allies and followers, but not… someone like you. I _do _worry,” he admitted, serious this time. “And now I worry who my brother has told his new _vision _to. Sometimes it is hard getting even my _Illidari _to trust me, and we are a necessary force. What will the _Alliance _do if Malfurion counsels them with this dream?”

“Well, we may be in luck, in that scenario.”

Illidan looked at her.

“Genn is Gilnean; Gilneans stick together. And _Anduin _calls me _Aunt.”_

“The King of Stormwind is your nephew?

She shook her head. “No, he just calls me that. My point is, they _trust _me; they’ve trusted me with you _so _far. Even if _Malfurion _doesn’t trust _you.”_

“Do _you _trust me?”

The look on her furry face was clear this time: he should know better. “You really have to _ask _that?”

“That wasn’t an answer. You know why I’ve done _everything,_ but knowledge doesn’t equal trust.” Illidan swiveled to face her, still crouched. “I want to _hear _you _say _it.”

“I _trust _you, Illidan. I trust you to order me _anywhere_. Throw me off this _cliff _if you want, I trust you’ll have a good reason.”

A smirk tugged at his lip. “That doesn’t count. You don’t fear death.”

She waved him off. “Stop it. You asked for sentiment, I’m giving it to you.” Her teeth showed a little more with a small laugh.

Illidan’s smile spread. “Come on. Let’s go on another date.” He held out a hand.

Leo’s eyes narrowed with a slow blink and coy drop of her head. “I thought you’d _never _ask.”

She put her paw on his, and Illidan grabbed his worgen by the waist and ran off the cliff. Wings stretched at his back to catch the air; she smelled like sea salt and new grass against him. Illidan held her tighter, gliding into a demon horde with the one who knew him best.


	23. Chapter 23

“Can I paint your hooves?” Leo asked.

_“What?”_ Illidan frowned at her. _“No.”_ He turned back to the scans.

“Why not? It will be just like the draenei do. I’ll even do it your favorite color. Do you have a favorite color?”

Illidan continued to frown. “Why can’t you change back and paint your _own _feet?” An odd concept as it was.

_“Toes,_ not feet. And it won’t do any good to paint _mine _because as soon as I run, or start fighting, or someone _cooks meat,_ I’ll change right back and it will be for _naught.”_

“I don’t have toes,” he reminded her.

“I’ll only paint the rim, like the draenei do. They don’t have toes either.”

Illidan tore his eyes from the scans. “No,” he repeated.

Leo sighed and slumped. “What am I going to do until the Paraxis stops?”

“Leo, the Paraxis stopped ten minutes ago.”

“Then why are we all still inside?” she challenged.

“I’m evaluating damage to our sites first. And waiting to see if it starts up again.”

Leo sighed again and sat against the navigation console. When nothing distracted her right away, she pulled an egg out of her pack. The Vindicaar was so crowded the crunch of the eggshell sounded muffled. But the scent of raw yolk hit Illidan’s nostrils.

“Why do you like raw eggs?” he asked. He moved the screen to view the scans of Krokuun.

“It’s not raw.” She took another crunchy bite. “It’s soft-boiled. I _like _them raw, but it is not ideal to take in the field.”

“But the shells?”

Leo shrugged. “They don’t bother me. I like the crunch.” She looked at him. “Would you like one?”

“No.” Illidan paused. But the more he thought about it, the more he remembered eggs on toast in his youth, and the memory of hot, runny yolk on crunchy bread made his tongue moisten. The yearning went straight to his stomach. Illidan paused his scans. “Do you have more?”

Leo’s long mouth stretched and her eyes crinkled. “Yes.” She dug in her sack, then held out an egg.

Illidan hesitated, turning it before his nose. “Why does it smell _sweet?” _The shell was firm, but not like eggs he remembered. It did not make noise when he tapped it with his claw.

Leo shrugged. _“I_ didn’t cook it. I got it from the town outside Stormwind. Not bad, though.”

Illidan sniffed again. He had not eaten eggs in… he could not remember when. A vague memory said turtle eggs could be softer if not left to develop, and duck eggs were sweeter than chicken eggs. If Leo ate them, how bad could it be? Illidan sank his fangs in.

And spit it out almost as fast.

Overwhelming sweet bombarded his mouth. It was like an entire vat of syrup fell into the butter churn. He’d never tasted anything so _horrid, _and he could not get it out of his mouth.

Leo laughed so hard she fell off the console. The fall did not stop her. She howled so loud she echoed in the full ship, so long her laughter came out as barks between gasps for air.

Illidan glared at the laughing hound, holding the remaining sweet egg in his talons like it was appalling grub. She _pranked _him, and Illidan had not foreseen it.

He craved revenge.

When Leo caught her breath and returned to her feet, Illidan’s frown had not waned. 

“What did you give me?” Amused she could laugh so hard, yet revolted.

“A candy egg!” Leo giggled. Illidan had never seen a hound’s eyes sparkle before. “Noblegarden was last week.”

“Noblegarden?”

“A Quel’dorei tradition in spring,” Vereesa spoke up.

“Since _when?”_ Illidan asked. “I recall no such thing.”

“It’s been around for awhile,” the Highborne elf nodded.

“Enchanted bunnies and candy egg hunts. Lots of chocolate,” Leo explained. She leaned over. “Are you going to finish that?” She stood on her toes to see the egg.

Illidan held it out, aware he still scowled. “Take it.”

Leo took it with another giggle. “Would you like a _real _egg? I have real eggs.”

“It better _be _real.”

Leo couldn’t seem to shake the aftershocks of her laughing fit. She shoved the candy egg in her mouth;_ Illidan grimaced; _then she pulled another egg from her pack.

It sounded real against his talon. It did not smell sweet. But she had already pranked him once. Illidan met her eyes and held it back out.

_“You _take first bite.”

Leo laughed loud. “You don’t trust me?”

“Not with eggs.”

“Okay, okay.” She chortled again and took the egg from him.

A crunch like the first egg she ate, and not a hint of sweet. Illidan took it back. _“Thank_ you.” Better this way, as well. Her bite left space for Illidan to suck the yolk out.

Leo gestured to the egg with Illidan’s tongue inside. “My germs are all over that,” she said.

_“My _germs were all over that _candy _egg you just ate.”

“So one could say you two _kissed _with _eggs,” _Vereesa offered.

Leo and Illidan stared at her, then each other.

“Do people kiss on dates?” Illidan attempted the same tone Leo used when she asked if people slay demons on dates.

“Yes,” Alleria chimed in.

_“No.” _Leo’s face crinkled. “That is revolting.” Illidan chuckled. “Do you even know how wolves kiss?” she asked the sisters.

Alleria smirked. “You are clearly the expert.”

“They _lick._ I will _not _lick anyone.”

“Not even Illidan?” Vereesa asked.

Leo growled and paced away. Illidan couldn’t help a laugh. “Vengeance complete,” he joked. He glanced to find Leo snarling, and a laugh escaped again. Her embarrassment was almost endearing.


	24. Chapter 24

“May I join you?”

Illidan did not look up. “Do you need to ask?” He ran a dagger through thick skin to reveal an artery.

“I do. You look busy,” Leo said. Her human voice was unique to Illidan. It stuck in his head now whether she stood as one.

“I don’t mind.” He grabbed a bucket to catch the blood.

“What are you doing?”

“Collecting demon blood for felsabers.”

“They eat it?”

“They will. It is how the sabers become felsabers.”

“Oh.” Leo dared to peer closer and her nose crinkled. “That’s… their blood? All those green rivers and pools… that’s their_ blood?” _When Illidan glanced, Leo stared in disgust and regret.

“Yes. My blood looks like this, as well.”

_“Imp mothers_ _wade _in _demon blood?” _

Illidan smirked. “Don’t tell me you thought them _cultured.”_

_“Ugh.” _Leo stepped away with a hand on her belly.

Illidan glanced again. “Would you like one?”

She stared like she hoped he was joking. “An_ imp mother?”_

Illidan could not help a laugh. “No, a felsaber.”

Leo’s brows shot up. “Truly? I thought you only gave them to your most trusted?” she said.

“If you don’t want one, just say so.”

“I thought you didn’t trust me?” Her eyes narrowed.

“It was a _joke,_ Leo. About _eggs.”_ Illidan met her eyes_. “Would_ you like one?”

“I--” Leo searched him. “Of course. Thank you…” She paused a moment before moving in closer. “Do you make them yourself?”

“Yes. I have to leave for this. It is a long process.”

“How long? Where are you going?”

“I will be away four days,” he told her. “It cannot be done here. I will return to the Fel Hammer.” Illidan moved the fel corpse to drain faster.

When he could force no more blood out, Illidan turned the demon to its back and stabbed the chest; bone cracked and echoed as if the Veiled Den was not teeming with moving bodies. He ripped the ribcage open and reached in. The heart, vital for creating demon hunters including sabers, was one of few organs mutated - not destroyed - by fel. The glowing, wilting muscle came off easy enough; he dropped it in the bucket of blood.

Leo watched in silence, indifferent, as if Illidan was not performing a gruesome harvest.

Illidan yanked the corpse off the slab, then grabbed another fel hound from the prisons; alive, but under a comatose hex. He carved a hole and began the harvest again.

Leo’s gaze strayed halfway through the draining. Illidan felt her eyes on him, but did not look over. She came into view when she craned to stare at his chest.

“How did you get your tattoos?”

“Sargeras ingrained them,” he said. “when he burned my eyes out.” Illidan watched her curious eyes a moment before turning back to the harvest.

“They’re _deep.”_

Illidan nodded. “It was not painless.”

Leo looked around at the other Illidari. “How do _they _get their scars? Sargeras didn’t _bestow _them _all,_ did he?”

“Theirs were carved,” he answered. Leo’s gaze returned. “I have added to mine over time, and taught others how to carve them.” Illidan moved the drained corpse and stabbed the chest. “The first set is given by an officer. Demon hunters learn to carve their own as they devour souls.” Illidan glanced at her before cutting out the heart.

Leo studied the Illidari more. “The women carve their own… bosoms?’

Illidan turned his head. “Some even carve off their own nipples. Women _and _men.” Leo met his stare. “The _sacrifice _is _great.”_

Leo stared so long she had to blink to wet her eyes. Her gaze traveled down his chest. Illidan could not tell if she was disgusted or uncomfortable.

She blinked again and brought an arm up. “What about this? Did _I_ give you that?” Her finger aimed at the wide, dark scar that spanned the side of his chest and ribs. While prominent, the scar was not as obvious as it was years ago.

“No. Arthas did.”

Her eyes met his. He was unsure how much she knew. Thanks to Malfurion, _many _knew a biased tale of Illidan’s exploits since Tyrande released him from prison.

“Kil’jaeden himself enchanted the sword.” Illidan paused, then threw the dead fel hound off the slab. “It still burns.” Illidan looked over again when she did not stop staring. Looked her up and down. “What of _you?_ You are human more and more these days. Do you not have something to _lose _yet?”

Leo still stared, one of the softest expressions she’d shown yet. “No, I think I’ve found something.”

“Then why are you still human?”

Without missing a beat, her countenance changed, and sass played on her lips in a smirk. “I _enjoy _the pain in my neck from looking way up at you.” Her eyes twinkled.

Illidan returned the smirk. He realized he may have asked an intruding question, but she never failed to lighten his day.


	25. Chapter 25

Leo returned a day after Illidan. Unlike her other returns, she was not what caught his gaze now.

Following Leo was a Legion eye scout.

Illidan hardened, prepared to muster the demon inside to prevent the Eye from alerting the Legion. For all purposes extinguished and disconnected from Legion control, but enough fel magic remained and kept it “alive” to travel through air. Enough fel to call for an invasion.

Romuul stole attention before Illidan could ask about the Eye. _“Why_ are you dressed like _Illidan?”_

Illidan’s gaze flew to Leo’s armor, and everything on his mind blew away. He expected to see her in armor akin to his belt and greaves, instead… Leo wore a tabard he had not seen since Outland. A tabard meant for a specific people. Purple, with a green emblem that matched his tattoos.

Leo _was _dressed like him.

“Where did you get that?” Illidan asked.

Leo approached with a timid drop of her head. “Outland,” she replied. She looked up like she dared herself to meet his eyes. Shy as a wolf could get. “The Scryer call it a _trophy. _At the time, it didn’t mean much,” she said. “And no one would buy it, so it’s been in my bank all this time.” She avoided his gaze again. “It means something _now,_ though.”

Illidan couldn’t tear his eyes away. Fel stains ruined the dress beneath. She looked like someone experienced in fighting the Legion; and she was. He already regarded her as Illidari, but now Leo _looked _it.

_Illidari_ and parading it. She _wanted _everyone to know she followed Illidan.

“Most of it is transmogrified,” she shrugged. “I’m not _really _wearing a dress.”

Illidan had seen her fight in a dress before; at least the appearance of one. It made no difference to him.

She was perfect.

Leo shifted her weight, then stepped aside, and a floating, clouded Legion eye scout followed her.

This was almost too much for Illidan at once.

“Where did you get _that?”_ He stared the eye. Clouded and dull, but fel still burned inside like a dying core.

“The Nightfallen,” she said, more comfortable with the subject change than she was discussing her obvious allegiance to Illidan. 

“The who?” he asked.

“The Shal’dorei,” she elaborated. “The ones recovering from ley addiction outside Suramar City.”

“Right.” Illidan had not paid them mind since he returned. The Shal’dorei also hated him for how he chose to fight the Burning Legion. A hate no doubt magnified by Malfurion’s _wisdom._

“They get scouts near their cave every now and then. Thalyssra traps the eyes and drains the mana till the glow wanes. They can’t use them for anything, though, so the children play with them like balloons, but… they’re stacking up. She didn’t object when I asked to take one.”

Illidan glanced at her with a smirk. “Another pet,” he assumed. He studied the eye again. “There is still a touch of fel energy,” he said. He tried to see if the Legion watched them from afar. If so, all extinguished eyes would need to burn.

He saw… something. He saw… _himself._ Distinct fel-green markings on a violet body. Distorted by the eye, but the the colors left no doubt.

His adrenaline spiked and face hardened. _The Legion was watching!_

The distinct body moved. Curves Illidan did not have appeared. Slender, not distorted. The eye bobbed, and a familiar face full of fur came in and out of view.

Illidan looked over. Leo’s new tabard. _Not _the Legion. His _own _gaze.

“I can _see _through it.”

“You can?” Leo’s voice rang of interest.

He smiled again with a nod. “Yeah.” Illidan turned back to the eye with an idea in bloom. He focused on the image from the eye, tried to move it up and down like he could real eyes in a head. _It moved as he willed. _Illidan huffed, not quite believing it, and tried again. He sent it to Romuul at the console, and Velen’s chair beyond. He urged it down stairs then up the other side.

Illidan redirected it into his hands. “Not clear, but well enough.” He peered around but little was available to see. Maybe infusing it with ley would give Illidan more control and visual clarity. “May I keep this a while?” he looked at Leo again.

“I… yeah, sure. I wasn’t aware you like pets?”

“I’m not. I am interested in how I can use this.” Illidan then considered she might not want it altered. He met her eyes. _“May_ I experiment on it?” he asked. Leo’s eyes flew large. “I may be able to tune it to follow my instruction.” He could evaluate threats when she was in the Isles. “A way to see out when you take it with you.” A way to make sure she wasn’t dying in fel again. If he could not reach her in time, local Illidari could.

Leo nodded. “Make sure I don’t date anyone else?”

Illidan forced back a grin. “Or spy on you in general.”

She nodded again, eyes trailing in thought. “I’ve been known to stop for baths in Highmountain and Azsuna. Lately, I’ve done it as a human.”

The grin broke free. “You will need supervision for that.” Leo’s eyes crinkled in response. On a more serious note: _“Worst_ case, you could use it as a scout.”

Leo chuckled. “Worst case,” she echoed. Illidan’s smirk hardened.

_“That_ is something _I_ am interested in,” Turalyon interjected.

“I was talking to _Leo,_ not you. I will _not _manipulate her pets for _your _sake.”

“Agreed,” Leo said. “Turalyon, Alleria may not want you watching me bathe.”

“No, but _I’ll _watch you,” Alleria kept a straight face. “You’re the first worgen I’m comfortable talking to, but I’m curious about your race. Do you bathe like this, covered in fur? Is _everything _covered in fur?”

Turalyon’s attempt to hide discomfort urged giggles. His son Arator snickered with the others.

“Except for the orifices,” Leo answered. Illidan didn’t suppress a snort well enough. Leave it to Leo. “I’ve only been changing for my baths in Highmountain, though,” she said. “I don’t like sea water on my human skin. It itches. But it helps keep my fur clean.”

“Is _that _why you always smell like ocean?” Illidan asked her.

“I smell like the ocean?”

“When we dove off the cliff, you did.”

“Oh! _That _was fun!” Leo’s eyes filled with excitement. “Can we do it again?”

“I will… _consider _it.”

“Then can I ride on your horns again?”

The corner of Illidan’s mouth pinched. “That was an accident.”

“But it was awesome! No one _else _has a mount like you.”

“I am not a war steed.”

“You _kind _of are. You have horns and you carry me from battle sometimes,” she said.

Illidan frowned in attempt to hold off a smile.

“Oh, come on. Not even when I’m wearing this?” she picked at her Illidari tabard.

“Is that all you _wore _that for?” Illidan gave in to a smirk.

“No. But does it help?”

Illidan chuckled._ “No,_ Leo. You are _not _riding me into Dalaran.”

Turalyon grimaced. “I, and I’m sure others, would appreciate if you took this talk to a private room.”

“Eew.” Leo crinkled her nose. “Even High Exarchs are naughty.”

Arator snorted and smirked. “At least _once _in their lives.” A sharp glance from Alleria blew his eyes wide. Arator hung his head. “Sorry, Mother.”


	26. Chapter 26

Leo was drunk when she returned. There was no need to ask. While the Paraxis rained, the Vindicaar was not as packed as usual, and the stench of alcohol wafted down with ease as Leo descended the walk.

“You smell like a brewery.” Y’mera wrinkled her nose.

“I do? Thank you! Shen Shormshore - Shin Shorm - Shen _Shtortshout _will be proud. I should write him. Doesh anyone have a pen? Illidan? Do you have pensh?”

Illidan looked up. For once, crouched on the floor while she stood, he was shorter than her. Leo smelled and sounded so drunk she might not notice, though. “No, Leo, I do not have _pensh.”_

“Why not?”

“What would I do with pens?”

“Throw them like shuriken shtarsh.”

Illidan paused. He nodded at the idea, also impressed she could say such a word drunk. “What are you drinking this time?”

“Carnival rum. You want shome?”

“No.”

She let out a loud whine. “Why ish it raining again?” Illidan looked up to see her gesture to the Paraxis. “I’m _tired _of thish rain. Shummer is almosht here. Hash anyone told the Legion thish?”

Illidan snorted. “You think that matters to them?”

“They might shtop if they know. Who dushen like shummer?”

“Sound logic,” he teased, knowing she was too drunk to pick up on satire. Illidan stood as Leo misjudged how close the window was. He did not want her or her drink all over him.

“Where doesh it come from? Fel cloush?” Leo talked a lot of nonsense when she drank. She almost lost balance pushing back from the window.

Illidan sighed. “Leo, sit down. It will be _embarrassing _if I have to save you from death_ here. _The Paraxis has been ongoing for _hours _now. You couldn’t get answers if you wanted to.”

“I _do _want to.”

“Leo, sit.” Illidan had no trouble carrying her by the shoulders. Her legs folded on their own as he set her against the console. Illidan crouched near her, nothing else to do until Paraxis ceased.

Leo looked at him like she only now saw him. “Oh! I shaw your firlgrend in Val’sharrrra!” Relaxing faster than normal, her many rolled r’s came out like a low growl.

Illidan huffed in confusion. “What is a _firlgriend?”_ Then he groaned. “Not some _murloc _thing?” he dreaded

_“No,_ your _girlfriend,”_ she said as slow as she could.

“My girlfriend?” Illidan echoed. He had not heard such rumors. If Leo heard them drunk, Illidan wasn’t sure he wanted to.

Drunk Leo managed to shrug and nod at the same time, and took another drink. “Your _girlfriend._ _You _know… that… _girlfriend _of yoursh. The tall one with long earsh and glow-y eyesh. Tyrant.”

_Tyrant._ Illidan snorted. He almost wanted Tyrande to hear that.

“No!” Eyes flew wide and added to Leo’s over-exaggeration. “Tyrant-_duh,”_ she enunciated long and slow, and still incorrect. Leo then giggled at herself. “Tyrant-_duh,”_ she repeated. She giggled again.

Illidan couldn’t help a smile. He had not seen her this drunk before. More amusing than he knew drunks could be. “I thought _you _were my girlfriend?” Their on-going joke about dates equaling killing demons was now so common it was more a dialect. Illidan enjoyed the banter, regardless they were far from romantic.

Leo paused in thought - a triumphant feat for someone so drunk. Then her eyes narrowed to slivers and her mouth stretched wider than ever to give Illidan the sweetest grin he’d seen. Curling into her shoulders made it even more endearing.

Illidan failed to suppress a grin. _“Stop_ that,” he laughed. _“No _one can function with that ludicrous grin on your face.” 

“Okay.”

The ridiculous grin remained.

“Who let me drink so much?” A groggy Gilnean asked.

_“You_ did.” Illidan answered from the console. “Welcome back to life.”

“I_ died?”_

“No,” Illidan chuckled. “But I waited. I did not know hounds could drink so much.”

“Why is it so quiet?”

_“Khadgar_ is asleep,” he laughed again.

Leo sat quiet for a moment. “It’s still going on?” The Paraxis.

“When it rains, it pours,” he played on her drunken analogy before. “It let up for about almost an hour.”

“Why didn’t you wake me?”

“Have you ever survived a demon fight drunk?” he asked.

“... There’s a first time for everything.”

Illidan grinned. “Apparently not.”

Leo sat forward and looked around. “Where is everyone? If the Parax…” She twisted to look at him, disquiet. “Did we lose everyone?”

Illidan let out quiet breath. “We lost some.” While on his mind again, he sent out more aerial scans. Many field scanners didn’t survive the Paraxis, and the shields down in Hope’s Landing would not last forever. The scans would detect the integrity of the shields, at least. “Light’s Purchase is gone. And my Den.”

Leo’s mouth turned down. “Again?”

“Half our people survived. The Paraxis took them off guard.”

“Do you know why it happens so often?”

Illidan met her eyes. “Because we are closer than they want us to be.”


	27. Chapter 27

“Can you make me like you?” Leo asked.

Illidan glanced down before stepping over the corpse of a soul-twisted monstrosity. “Tall?” he guessed.

“Cute. But not quite.”

Illidan smirked. She left that open far too wide to ignore. “You want to be _cute,_ but not as cute as _me,”_ he teased.

Leo bared her teeth. “That is not what I said.”

Illidan grinned. “You will have to be more specific, then.”

“I mean like this. The _wings _and _horns._ Your tattoos. A _Demon _Hunter.”

Illidan’s smile fled and he stared. She did not know what she was asking. “You are efficient already. They _call _you _Demonslayer._ Is that not enough?”

“Wouldn’t I be _more _efficient though?”

Illidan stopped walking to face her. While expression was hard to read on a fur-covered face, Leo appeared serious. “No.”

“Why not?”

“The mortality rate is too high.”

“But I would just come back.”

“To the body you fled. You would kill yourself and return _over _and _over._ The cycle would never end unless you refused to return to your body. I don’t want that for you, Leo.”

“I heal quicker than most, remember?”

Illidan’s brow sank. “I don’t want your eyes gone,” he admitted. “I want you to see the world for what it _should _be. Not how a_ demon hunter_ sees.” All who survived were never the same. He did not want to see the ritual destroy the Leo he knew.

“But I could _help _you _better.”_

“Not if your soul decides to abandon your body when the pain and visions don’t recede. It is _maddening.”_ Illidan hesitated. “I want you to _stay _you.”

Leo looked away, shoulders falling in disappointment. _“How_ is it maddening?” she asked.

Illidan searched her. “I can’t tell you,” he said, “other than the pain is unimaginable.” He did not want to repulse her. He tested enough by letting her watch the harvest of fel hound hearts.

He worried her loyalty had a limit.


	28. Chapter 28

“I haven’t seen these lands in ages...” Illidan accompanied Leo as she flew over Suramar.

The extinguished eye she got from the Nightfallen proved malleable. Not only could Illidan see through it, but he could speak with her. For respite while Illidan waited out another Paraxis attack, Leo escorted him through the Broken Isles. 

“So much has changed,” he said. Yet as they flew, Illidan remembered running on grass with his brother and Tyrande. Chasing them over hills, climbing, splashing through rivers. Laughing under waterfalls. _So long ago._

“It looks a lot better in person. Sure you don’t want to fly out here?”

“No. If someone recognizes me…” It would all go down hill. No one in Suramar, or Val’Sharah, wanted to see him again. Illidan was certain. Worse if his presence caused Leo to lose her contacts and resources in the Isles. He enjoyed her company, but her resources had played a significant part in getting Illidan where he needed to be, and continued to supply their cause.

Illidan _detest__ed_diplomacy.

Movement from beyond caught his attention. Illidan turned the Eye. “Leo! Someone approaches!” The nearer it drew, the clearer features of a Night Elf became. Not any Night Elf: a distinct sigil of Darnassus encrusted the Sentinel’s armor.

“Commander Leopoldanna! The High Priestess requests your aid below!” The Darnassus Sentinel - a guard formed by Illidan’s beloved herself - announced as she pulled her aerial steed to a halt.

Illidan froze. _Tyrande _was asking for Leo.

“High Priestess?” Leo echoed.

Illidan could not speak to explain. It would give him away.

“Lady Tyrande Whisperwind,” the Sentinel told her.

“Ah. Well, I… _guess _this is convenient. I have nothing to do _and _I’m in the neighborhood,” Leo said. She glanced at the Eye with a spark in her own. “I will… be right there.”

Illidan’s heart skipped and breath stole away. _He would see Tyrande._ He would see her, and she couldn’t dismiss him.

“My Lady appreciates your support, Commander.” The Sentinel paused to stare in caution at the Eye. Illidan hoped it looked like an innocent, odd-looking pet to normal Kal’dorei. “Cute pet.” Clear sarcasm.

“Thanks, I’ll tell him you said so,” Leo said without a beat. The scout frowned in deeper uncertainty before flying away. Leo reached over and patted the Eye; Illidan’s view bobbed beneath her paw. “Did you hear that? She called you cute.”

Illidan snorted. “She also called me your_ pet.”_

“Wait, does that mean you’re _not?”_ Leo played innocence far too well.

“No,” Illidan chuckled.

Leo sighed. “What am I going to do with all those _leashes,_ then?” She turned her lilac hippogryph and flew on, and Illidan the Eye followed her _as if_ on a leash.

“You expect too much of me,” he joked back. Leo giggled.

Then she gasped. _“Ooh!_ There she is! Illidan,_ look!” _She nudged the Eye, and Illidan’s view bobbed again._ “_Today is your lucky day, Mana Buns. I’ll try to get close to her bosoms, yeah? I think I stand that tall, if I remember right.”

“Sometimes I find it hard to believe we’re dating,” Illidan joked. Leo laughed loud.

“What kind of _girlfriend _brings her half-demon boyfriend to spy on his heart’s _true _desire?” she snickered.

_“Mine,_ apparently,” he smirked. “I’m surprised you remember that.”

“Calling me your girlfriend? Yes,” she laughed again.

Illidan huffed. _“You_ were _drunk._ You almost fell a few times before I made you sit.”

Leo breathed deep as her hippogryph descended. “Ready for this?”

“Do I have a choice? I’m your _pet,_ aren’t I?”

“Will you say that out loud in front of Khadgar?” she teased.

Illidan laughed. “No.”

Leo’s giggle cut short as she hesitated to land. “You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.” She looked at the Eye.

Illidan couldn’t answer right away. _There she was. _His heart ached in longing at the sight of his beloved. He hadn’t seen Tyrande for… how long? But _there she was, right in front of him. _Time never changed her beauty.

“I want to stay.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” she jested. “Wait till I have a horribly lewd fall and yank her dress by _accident.”_

Illidan laughed to himself. _Horribly lewd_ indeed.

“Ah, Leopoldanna! At last, someone sensible.” Tyrande greeted Leo like an old friend as soon as she landed. Illidan’s gut knotted as his beloved approached. “It has been a _circus_ around here,” Tyrande said, exasperated yet relieved.

_Her voice._ Illidan had not heard Tyrande speak so amiable since they were children. Every organ left in his body felt like it melted.

“That bad?” Leo chuckled. “If only it was the city, right?” Illidan had heard of the chaos in Suramar City.

Tyrande made a noise of annoyance. “I would not even know, at this rate. It seems to get worse by the day. I do not exaggerate when I say I am grateful to have someone _reliable _around for a change. Between the Quel’dorei and Sin’dorei’s pranks and my people’s retaliation, I feel more like a _nanny,_ and the Kirin Tor have given up keeping order.”

Leo laughed, then apologized. “I know a few people who can put them all to sleep, if you’d like a day off.”

Tyrande gave a quiet laugh. Illidan melted all over again. _The most beautiful sound._ He thought he’d never hear her laugh again. “I am sorely tempted,” Tyrande smiled.

“Anything I can do while I’m here?” Leo asked.

“I would appreciate any assistance you can afford. My scouts have been unable to get into the city. The blood elves have taken to _hiding _our _armor._ This morning, a pair of _greaves _fell from a tree in a gust of wind. It was the third pair to go missing in a week.”

Leo snorted like she meant to hold in a laugh. Pranks were right up her alley. “Anything in particular I should look for?”

Tyrande held out a set of scrolls. “For now, this. Post them up where you can,” she requested, “to let the Shal’dorei know the Alliance is on its way with help. With any luck, it will inspire them.” Silken hair fell around her bare shoulders as she glanced around. “The fewer of my own people needed, it seems, will be best.”

She had not changed. She stood more confident, but otherwise the same radiant Tyrande who snared Illidan’s heart so long ago. The laughter in her eyes when she smiled, the cleft of her lips. Her delicate chin. The light in her eyes magnified in the jewel above. The nape of her neck, how she stood to curve her hips… Tyrande was every bit the definition of _Perfect. _

“By far one of the simplest things I’ve been asked to do here.” Leo took the scrolls.

Illidan began to understand how good of a friend she was to him. No matter the reason, Leo paused her plans to help the woman Illidan loved. So Illidan could _see _and _hear _the woman he loved.

_“Thank you,_ Leopoldanna. I trust you to handle things in a timely manner and not let petty differences -” Tyrande glanced around again “- subvert you. Although if you felt the urge to help repay the Sin’dorei in kind, I would not object.”

Leo giggled, clutching the scrolls at her front. “I do love to go out with a bang.”

_“Literally, _I recall.” Tyrande stared out of focus at the scrolls in Leo’s hands for a moment.

Then her eyes narrowed.

_Something was wrong. _

“That _tabard _\- _where _did you get it?” If Tyrande had not treated Leo as a friend this whole time, it might sound like a demand.

Leo’s eyes widened. Illidan watched her, holding his breath. Neither had considered Tyrande’s reaction to the Illidari tabard when Leo landed in the Kal’dorei camp. “In Outland,” Leo tried to sound neutral, but Illidan picked up on the anxiety in her tone. “I only pulled it out days ago. It seems appropriate for Argus. Fighting the Legion, and all, yeah?” A smoother response than Illidan could have concocted so quick.

“It is the tabard of a _Betrayer,” _Tyrande told her, so sharp it tore Leo’s gaze like magnets.

Illidan was on a sudden unsure about staying there. Was this a mistake?

“Illidan created _atrocities _on our people, even _now _with his _demon hunters._ That tabard is one that follows an obsession for _power, _no matter _who _he affects. It is _inadvisable _to support such a _lost _and _unhinged soul, _Leopoldanna. I had higher hopes for you than that.”

Illidan shattered inside. After all these years, after all he’d done… she still dismissed him.

Leo's eyes narrowed and ears lay flat. “He is not like that.”

“I _know _what he is like,” Tyrande asserted.

Leo stared at the High Priestess, silent for what felt like an age. Such a sharp twist of conversation.

When Leo turned to the Eye, not even all that fur hid regret. “I’m sorry,” she told Illidan. “I’ll meet you in Dalaran.”

Illidan had no desire to speak. The knot in his gut and Tyrande’s cold words burned inside him. _After everything, _she had not changed her mind. He was not sure where Dalaran was from there, but Leo was right to dismiss him. This was no place for him.

After all this time, Illidan still had no place among his people.

“I’m_ so sorry,_ Illidan.”

Illidan looked over, but he already knew who it was. Leo was the only one on Argus with a Gilnean accent. Like all other times, her human form could not hide distress. Her mouth hung in a pout and brows upturned, without question hurting for him.

Illidan dropped his head, then looked away. “I should have known better.” He crouched. “She had a similar reaction when I last spoke with her.” A long breath washed through him.

“I won’t ask you to visit her again. I’m _so sorry.”_

“It is not your fault, Leo.”

“How can I make it up to you?” Small and teary, and wanting to mend a mistake that was not hers.

Illidan stood to stare. She was a better friend than what was good for her; maybe than he deserved. Her image was at stake if she continued to follow him. She might lose friends, or rank, because of him.

Yet she had not removed the Illidari tabard. She _still _wanted people to know she fought for him.

Illidan held out a hand. “Take me on another date.” Killing demons was a sure outlet for rejection.

A small smile danced at one side her mouth. Leo put her hand on his, and began to change. Illidan watched, enraptured as always.

He smiled at the worgen before him. Everything was okay, as long as his best friend was there.


	29. Chapter 29

Illidan walked over when Leo stepped off the transporter. “There has been a change of plans,” he told her.

Human brows arced and Leo glanced around. “We’re... not helping set up now?” The Illidari escaped the Paraxis, but now the Veiled Den needed uprighting.

“Not you and I.” Illidan stared for a moment. “Do you still want to know how Demon Hunters are made?” As expected, Leo’s eyes flew to his. Eager surprise painted her face.

“Yes.”

“An initiate has second thoughts,” Illidan told her. “But he has seen too much. If we let him leave now, who knows where he will run with the information. If my brother learns of it, we will have _more _trouble on our hands.”

Leo’s eyes drifted in thought, then returned to him with a frown of worry. “With the Wardens so close… he could enlist _Maiev.”_

Illidan was glad she understood the concern. “Precisely. And I prefer _not_ to kill this initiate when he may be of use."

Another thought changed her frown to curiosity. _“Can_ I know how demon hunters are made? If _he _can’t…” 

“I trust you,” Illidan told her. “There is a great difference between you and him right now.” He paused. “This… is my compromise to your request. You asked to be a demon hunter, but I denied you. I want you to know why.” Illidan held out his hand.

Leo searched him for a moment. When she lay her hand on his, Illidan squeezed it. He hoped this would not change how she saw him. “Where are we going?” Leo asked.

“Mardum,” he said, leading her back to the transport beacon.

“What is Mardum?”

“A planet ripe with Legion manufacturing.”

_“Oh,_ so this is a _date,_ also,” Leo quipped.

Illidan smirked at her. “Yes. _After.”_

He led her through the beacon onto the Vindicaar and down the incline, trying to make straight for the portal to Dalaran. While the matter wasn’t urgent, Illidan knew how easy it was to distract Leo. Even easier to distract her now that so many of her pets were on board.

Someone cooed aloud. “Oh, _look _Romuul! They are holding hands!” Y’mera sighed. Illidan looked over to see a smile spread.

“Don’t you have anything better to do than gawk at the Commander and her intimidating boyfriend?” Romuul asked her.

“No.” Y’mera kept the sappy smile on her face.

“How come you never hold my hand like that?” Alleria asked Turalyon.

Turalyon gave her a double-take. “In _front _of people?”

Leo, at the end of Illidan’s arm, shrank back, mortified. Ribbing each other was one thing. “Ignore them,” Illidan told her. Now it _was _better to hurry.

“Ignoring them hasn’t worked yet,” Leo said.

Illidan glanced back with a smile. “And whose fault is that?”

_“Both_ of us.”

Illidan grinned. He could not argue. He played up their _dates _as much as she did. He suspected, however, those who teased them did so knowing Illidan and Leo were not lovers.

With those on the Vindicaar eager to jest, Dalaran was a welcome sight for once. Illidan grabbed Leo and ran for the edge, holding her against him. Wings caught the air as he jumped, breathing satisfaction through to his hooves. Leo tried to turn in this arms; Illidan cradled her tighter. Little compared to riding the wind, even for worgen it seemed.

Illidan released her as soon he touched ground.

“Master Illidan,” Kal’dorei demon hunters greeted.

“New… prisoner?” one guessed.

Leo nudged his leg with her elbow. _“That’s_ what we can use all those leashes for,” she joked.

Illidan frowned at her and the elves. “No.”

Leo rolled her eyes, then reared back. Illidan watched with the others, enraptured as always when she transformed into the wolf.

“Leo is Illidari,” he told his elves. “She will be treated so.” Illidan took one step toward the portal, then stopped. “How sensitive are you to _scent _in that form?”

Leo looked up in question. “As any dog, I think. I can smell the cheese shop and the beer garden from here. And those _disgusting hounds_ in the Horde inn.” Leo growled as if the _disgusting hounds_ were right there. Illidan couldn’t help a laugh. She _was _cute when she growled.

“You may want to change back,” he told her. “Prisoners are used as target practice.”

“And the laboratory,” an elf added.

Leo’s snout crinkled. “Laboratories stink.”

Illidan chuckled. “Yeah. Still cute,” he teased. As expected, Leo snarled at him; it only stretched Illidan’s grin. “Change back. I have work to do.”


	30. Chapter 30

Leo froze inside the Fel Hammer. Eyes larger than normal, she looked around. Aside from the only human on board, nothing on Azeroth, Outland, or Argus compared to what surrounded her now. Tasks and voices paused to look at the only human, and Leo stared right back.

“Back to your duties!” Illidan projected his voice. He looked at Leo with a nod toward the hall. “This way.” Leo hesitated, though. Illidan could not tell if she was anxious. “Is something wrong?” he asked her.

Leo looked over like she only now heard his voice. “No.” She hurried over to follow him. “We need one of these over Argus,” she said.

“If we had enough Illidari to spare for a separate attack, we would,” he said.

A small hand clamped on his wrist. Illidan looked down to find Leo staring toward the command center, eyes even larger than before. “Can I _have _one?” Leo craned her neck to search him.

Illidan narrowed his gaze at the command ring, wondering if he’d missed something new. “Have one _what?” _

“A Shivarra!” Like it should be obvious.

Illidan huffed. She never failed to amuse. “Take your pick.”

“Can I have the _big _one?” Eager like a child on holiday.

Illidan laughed. “I doubt _she _would go so easily into your servitude. That is the Mistress. She commands her kind.”

“I don’t want a _servant,_ Illidan. I just want something _pretty _to look at when I’m in the field.”

“So bring a mirror.”

_“Cute,_ but have you ever seen a mirror_ small _en-- wait, _what?”_

He silenced her with an arm to block her steps. Loud voices carried up from below, frenetic, frustrated. Unbalanced even among the dynamic. Illidan met Leo's gaze. “He is down there. Can you hear him?”

Her eyes darted while she listened. “I hear someone arguing.” She looked up at him again.

“That is him.” Illidan searched her for a moment. “He will scream.”

“When he _sees _me?”

“After he kills his demon. It is not pleasant.”

“I gathered as much,” she said.

Illidan stared a moment longer. He hoped this would not change how she regarded him. Leo had become vital to him. With a silent sigh Illidan stretched an arm towards the depths of the ship. “Come.”


	31. Chapter 31

It used to take place far away. Since he fled to Outland, Illidan had to improvise on almost everything. Creating new Demon Hunters was no different. Before Malfurion imprisoned him, and before Magtheridon, it was an arena. Now, they fought demons and devoured the hearts on the Fel Hammer’s lower level. With Illidari around the ring in case the demon triumphed, the ritual began.

Illidan watched next to Leo, crouched while she stood. She’d said nothing as Illidan intimidated the young night elf into following through with a commitment already sworn to. The unshackled nathrezim was almost thrice the initiate’s size. From the young kal’dorei’s hesitation thus far, the odds looked in favor of the demon.

“Did he pick out the demon?” Leo asked. “Or did it come from your prisons?”

“Each demon hunter chooses his own,” Illidan told her. “The size of the demon does not matter. More power can be absorbed as we destroy Legion forces. Many weak souls, or few potent ones. It is up to the demon hunter how much power to gain.”

“How do you absorb power?” She glanced at him. Kneeling and crouched, Illidan’s head was level with Leo’s.

“By eating their hearts,” he answered. “If the heart is destroyed and the demon is powerful enough, sometimes blood will suffice.”

Leo grimaced as the initiate swung too high and wide and hit armor instead. “He should have gone low.”

Illidan nodded. “Not all who join survive,” he reminded her.

Leo watched in silence for a moment. The young kal’dorei moved like a rogue, fast and low like the demon had ankles to slice. The long warglaives seemed out of his league, throwing him off balance when he tried to stab. As long as he didn’t try to hit the demon, he kept agile and avoided blows.

But demon hunters could not cull Legion numbers by dodging. Illidan doubted the young elf would survive. Warglaives were like giant barbs: made for snagging and dragging till gashes became irreparable. Unbalanced if held wrong, and took more effort to use with precision than daggers.

As combat wore on, the novice fatigued. A few hits he could not dodge, a bash to a leg that caused him to limp. An ill-timed swing without enough strength to follow through. Another missed block knocked him down. The failing initiate rolled to avoid a heavy slash, but spent the following hits on his back trying to block with warglaives he could not wield. The demon loomed above, laughing, taunting. It was not using its full strength. It would take only one more swing to end the young night elf.

Leo the war hound in human skin jeered at the match. “What kind of elf are you? _He _is the reason you’re _here_ and not _frolicking _at _home!_ _Get up_ and _kick his arse!”_ A chipper Gilnean yelling at a demon hunter.

Illidan snorted, amused but trying not to laugh. Leo’s head whipped over so fast her hair flew.

“A thousand pardons,” she said as fast as her hair moved. 

The grin broke free. “Be my guest,” he gestured to the elf in the ring.

The demon laughed again, no doubt amused as Illidan; a demon hunter needed a human to motivate him. The young night elf stared at Leo, still on his back. Sweat dripped in attempt to hold off the demon. The nathrezim raised his weapon to swing again. And the elf changed his mind.

Lines of determination skewed his face, and with a yell, he pushed the demon back and rolled to his feet. The elf threw one warglaive aside and charged, both hands on the remaining weapon. He slid to dodge the demon’s heavy swing, snagging the leg as he sliced. Without hesitation as he rose, he drove the blade into the demon’s thigh and twisted. The hulking, winged monster lost balance with a roar.

Leo cackled in triumph. “Yes! _ YES! That _ is how it’s done!” She nudged Illidan and cocked her head closer. “We laid bets on this, right?”

Illidan grinned again. “You were too busy _ yelling _at him, remember?”

The young elf yanked the warglaive with a grunt to reveal a fel-gushing gash. A foot pinned an elbow to the floor. The demon spat out curses and Sargeras’ name.

“Base of the neck!” Leo hissed, hands clenched in anticipation. _ “Base of the neck!” _ Illidan tried not to show he adored this side of her. He almost wished she did this on Argus.

With a yell of effort, the young night elf thrust the warglaive where Leo wanted and twisted again. Another shove of the blade split bone with a satisfying crack.

Illidan leaned close, mindful of his horns. “Well done,” he praised his worgen’s motivational tactics. “Too bad you weren’t there to train my _ first _demon hunters.”

Leo scoffed at him. _ “Ugh, _ no. I’d be over eleven-thousand years old. Do you know how _ wrinkly _ I’d be? Or _ dead _ and _ shriveled?” _ She gave a shudder of disgust. An undead worgen _ would _be fearsome.

Illidan chuckled. “I would have to kill you.”

Leo’s mouth twitched to hold in a smirk. “Sometimes I think you _ fantasize _about that.”

“Only with you,” he joked as quiet as he could.

Illidan stood as the initiate pulled his weapon from the dead demon. Fel began to pool on the floor. The young elf stood with one foot on the body, breath heaving his entire torso. He looked over at Leo first, then Illidan.

_ “Finish _ it,” Illidan ordered. The kal’dorei hesitated, then frowned with a nod.

Still high on the adrenaline of success, the elf pushed the dead demon to its back. A hard jab of the long warglaive hit bone.

“Do they have to eat the whole heart for it to work?” Leo whispered to Illidan like her voice might distract the elf afore them. The elf, who heard her anyway, worked the blade to wedge bone.

Illidan crouched to indulge her urge to whisper. “No. But they should.”

“Do _ you?” _ she asked.

Illidan looked over. “I have, but not since I drained the Skull of Guldan. I am satisfied with what it gave me.”

“Do they taste good? Demon hearts?” Too curious for her own good.

Illidan huffed. “I wouldn’t serve them to impress.” A loud crack drew his gaze back to the young elf. A dripping, glowing mass pulled free of the body spurting fel.

The young elf hesitated with the heart before him.

_ “Do it.” _ Illidan glared. If he would not eat it on his own, Illidan would force him.

A frown in hesitation, then the elf opened wide and squeezed his eyes shut; dreading, but at least willing. Kal’dorei fangs broke through with a squish of juicy flesh. Fel blood squirted out at his teeth and the torn aorta. A larger chunk than Illidan would advise; the young elf fought a gag.

Illidan glanced at Leo. If she was repulsed, she did not show it.

Leo leaned closed again. “If he were smart, he’d just swallow it,” she whispered.

Illidan turned his mouth near her ear. “He can hear you, you know,” he whispered back.

Leo pulled back in surprise. “What? How?” Her eyes then landed on his ears. _ “Oh, _ right. I always forget _ elven _ears serve a purpose. _Human_ ears a _quite_ dull.”

Illidan allowed himself a smirk, turning his gaze back to the novice.

The young elf yelled, face distorted from an unseen attack. Illidan remembered the pain well: the first swallow of demon blood. It burned like live fire all the way down, where it met the stomach like a bomb. Illidan watched him, waiting for cowardice to give in like it had before. The elf gasped hard, panting to bring in air; it would not cool the burn.

To Illidan’s surprise, the novice sank his teeth again, and again, enduring the burn with the courage of an elf who lost his livelihood to the Legion. He ate until nothing remained of the heart but the scream of pain it caused inside.

Then silence, save for a pant of victory. A lone night elf crouched on his enemy’s corpse like a savage, dripping from chin and hands with green blood.

Illidan stared harder. One trial down. A Kal’dorei lifetime to go.

The silence droned on. Leo leaned close to Illidan again. “What happens now?” she whispered.

“Just wait,” he murmured.

Illidan turned his head. Leo showed no signs of revolt yet. Still near enough for Illidan to feel her heat. Nothing she witnessed so far repelled her from him. With luck, she would still trust him when this finished.

“Do I look like that when _ I _use my teeth instead of my sword?” she asked.

Illidan grinned. He almost forgot she got carried away in battle sometimes. “No. Better looking, but not as threatening.”

She looked at him with a crooked grimace. “That _ is _disappointing.”

“Maybe stop running to rinse your mouth between kills,” he teased.

Leo crinkled her nose, and Illidan couldn’t help a chuckle. “Demon blood is _ horrid, _ though. It takes _ forever _to get the taste out.”

“You should have warned _ him _ first.” Illidan gestured to the young night elf dripping in _ horrid _blood.

“Why are you whispering? I thought you said he could hear us?” she whispered again.

“Because _ you’re _whispering.” It was almost like a reflex. Whispering was not elven nature; pointless when they could hear miles. There were few secrets among elves.

Her eyes sparkled at him, in spite of the gory scene afore them. But a shriek filled the air before Leo could respond.

The startled human jumped. Leo clung to Illidan’s arm, eyes blown wide. Illidan felt the hairs on her arms stand from goosebumps.

He watched her. Waited for Leo to retreat, to run away in horror. Illidan dreaded the inevitable: she would avoid him at all costs from now on.

Illidan would be alone again.

The young kal’dorei screamed so loud Illidan felt it in his spine. He screamed again when he grabbed a fel-blazing warglaive by the blade and stabbed his eyes out, one gory, juicy bulb at a time. Bleeding hands slipped on the fel fire blade and missed the other eye, causing a gash down his face that would no longer heal like elven bodies should. With draining shrieks for _ it _ to _ stop, _the remaining eye dropped to the fel-stained floor in pieces.

Illidan hoped Leo would not abandon him because of this day.

Silence returned to the ship as the new demon hunter fell limp. Eyes still larger than normal, Leo froze, taken aback. She glanced at Illidan before tightening her hold on his arm and standing on her small toes to peer at the fallen body. Her nose wrinkled while she sniffed; like she forgot she was not covered in fur.

“Is he _ dead?” _ she asked. With her accent, she sounded more curious than alarmed.

It did not mean she was not repulsed. Illidan stared before answering. He worried any words might test her loyalty more. Leo had seen the birth of a demon hunter. She was part of Illidan’s world more than anyone, now; as if she wasn’t before. Only tomorrow would tell if she remained so. 

“No.” It felt like a last word before he watched her disappear forever.

Illidan motioned for Illidari clean up the mess. As demon hunters carried the novice away, Illidan laid his hand on Leo’s, prying the hand off as gentle as he could to stand.

“You can leave if you desire.” Illidan felt he already knew the answer.

“Why? What happens now?”


	32. Chapter 32

Leo was quiet. She had said little since the new demon hunter came to and realized what he’d done.

While the novice lay unconscious from gouging his eyes out, Illidan made the first set of tattoos. Leo growled, then laughed with Illidan when the first smell of raw flesh made her turn back into the wolf. Illidan explained, as he drilled tiny holes of skin and filled them with green blood, the tattoos help Illidari control the demon within.

The novice raged against himself when he awoke and realized what he'd become. Illidan locked him in a cage to protect those on the Fel Hammer; _ to protect his human. _ But he couldn’t protect Leo from everything. His human watched with a troubled glare as the new hunter failed to control the demon within and burned himself alive with fire. The screams echoed through the ship, the bars rattled and the cage jumped and clanked.

Leo had stared silent, no doubt disturbed. She stared when Illidan told her only one in five survive. She met his gaze, unreadable again as he said _ “I don’t want you to be one of the four.” _

She remained quiet even now, as Illidan led her back to the Vindicaar transporter in Dalaran. Illidan had not been so anxious in ages. He felt he’d made a mistake. Her companionship alleviated wounds the world - the _ universe _ \- drilled in his heart. Illidan worried that would vanish after the horrors he subjected her to. He worried _ she _would vanish.

“Is this to be our last farewell?” Though he towered over her, he felt smaller than the dwarves walking about.

Leo’s large human eyes found him with arced brows. “Why do you say that?”

Illidan could not meet her gaze for anything. “I… it was a mistake to bring you there.” Another mistake learned too late. Illidan dropped to one knee with a heavy head. To repent. “Your eyes should not have had to endure what I led you to.” He never should have felt she needed an explanation for denying her a demon hunter’s abilities.

_ “Illidan.” _ When he did not look up, a small hand found his face and lifted his chin. “Get up.” And when he did not move, Leo sighed and pulled on his shoulders till he stood. “You’ve seen me run before. If I’d wanted to leave, I would have gone out with a bang. Or a long fall. Don’t you know me by now?” Her chipper Gilnean accent sounded far less troubled than Illidan perceived her.

Illidan frowned at the human who did not reach his hips. “Apparently not.”

She searched him, silent again for a moment. Then, “I’ll go where you lead me. I can _ promise _that.”

He hoped he could hold her to that.

Another moment of silence before Leo put a hand on her belly and bulged her eyes. “All right, enough sentiment. _ I _ am _ famished. _ Are _ you _hungry?” She met his burning gaze.

She was right. She followed him everywhere, starting back in Outland. Perhaps… he _ shouldn’t _worry about a final parting.

But… she was human, and he an elf with an immortal body. He would worry. And he would always find his way back to her side.

“I always hunger.” As of late, it persisted for her company.

_ “Ha! Capital! _ Race me?” She nudged him. “Loser buys.”

Illidan frowned again. _ He worried for nothing. _ He never carried coin, Leo knew that. He also hated Dalaran. Leo knew that, too.

“I have a better idea.” Before Leo could ask, Illidan swooped her up and jumped off the floating city’s broken edge. His wings caught the air as the ocean below rushed to meet them. His human clung tight in his arms.

Even if tomorrow she decided his world was too much, Illidan could have her now.


	33. Chapter 33

“Illidan! _ Illidan!” _ Leo bounded around the corner into the Den too fast. She skidded into two blood eves, interrupting hand-to-hand with a long slide right into the rock wall.

Illidan watched in amusement as the three tangled Illidari struggled to break free. Leo, clumsy as she was in excitement, stepped on ears and slipped on a wing, causing another tumble. By the time she reached him on two legs, all Illidan could do was stare and smirk.

“Illidan!”

He had worried for nothing. The gruesome account of the failed new demon hunter on the Fel Hammer proved not enough to drive her away. Leo remained on Argus with him, often near enough to run into him. Literally. 

“Yes?” He could only imagine what went through her head when she came bounding in like this.

She did not bound in shouting for _ anyone. _

“The tournament on Mac’Aree is on! Come on! Come with me!”

_ “What?" _ Illidan frowned in uncertainty. Not this again. “No.”

The hound on two legs scoffed like he was being unfair. _ “Yes!” _ She tugged on his arm with furry hands, but could not budge him. “Come on! I did it on my own earlier, it’s perfectly safe.”

“Then what stops you from doing it again on your own?” Illidan watched her tug at his folded arm.

“It’s meant for _ two. _ It’s a _ match.” _ Leo dropped her paws with a sigh and a glare. “Why not?”

“I don’t want to fight you.” Illidan’s brows narrowed his burning eyes. He never forgot the time he battled Leo. It did not bode well for him.

She made a noise and waved her paw. “It will be fun! Besides, Maiev isn’t here. You’re _ bound _ to win _ this _time.”

Illidan’s eyes narrowed more. “Comforting.”

“Oh, come on! _ Pleeeeease?” _ She clutched his arm and leaned in with the best smile a hound could give.

“No. Take someone else.” He motioned to the other Illidari.

_ “That _ is hardy fair. It won’t be even.”

“And… if _ I _ fight you, it _ will _ be?” Her logic amused him.

_ “Yes.” _ As if it was obvious. 

“How will a match with ghosts help cull Legion numbers?”

“It will appease the ancient champion the Legion is trying to corrupt.” Eyes large and eager while she nodded.

Illidan stared in disbelief a moment before giving in with a sigh. If he didn’t appease _ her, _ she might never let up. “Fine.”

Illidan enjoyed Mac’Aree. In particular, he enjoyed it when he ventured there with Leo. But this ancient sparring match was a strange experience, which said a lot in Illidan’s life. He tried to ration how it worked in his head: a temporary bonding with a spirit and extending it to fight from a distance. It made him feel better about bonding with a ghost, at least. Leo seemed no different after her earlier solo encounter with it. He hoped it had no lasting effects. He almost could not maneuver the spirit, as it was.

Leo came close to winning, but Illidan got the hang of it at the last moment and grounded her spectral avatar. Because of the outcome at the Black Temple, Illidan did not quite believe his victory. Leo was thrilled all the same; enjoy the game for the game. Elated like a child with surprise gifts, she gave a triumphant cheer and bounced on all fours around the ring.

A smile stretched on Illidan’s face. Leo often embraced an element Illidan never saw anymore: Innocence, and the freedom that came with it. The sight of her so happy warmed him. Her joy was the single ray of peace in the never-ending war that was his life. He wanted her happy _ always. _

He… wanted to _share_ her happiness.

The ancient eredar knew how to have fun, that was certain. Perhaps Romuul even suggested they partake for the very reason Leo bounced right now.

“Draenei traditions are certainly _ free, _ aren’t they?” Though he’d participated, it didn’t feel quite real to Illidan.

“It was _ awesome!” _ Leo rose to two legs and cackled in triumph. Illidan couldn’t help his stretching smile.

“Did we appease the _ ancient champion, _ though?” He knew it was tactic to get him to agree.

Leo looked around and sniffed as if searching for an actual ancient champion. “The only way to know for sure is to wait for him to appear.”

“I would rather not push our luck.” With the Void seeping through from one direction and the Legion in the opposite, it was luck indeed they were not fighting demons right then.

“I push luck all the time. It seems to work out okay.”

Illidan smirked hard. “Only when I’m there to _ save _you.”

She snarled like a puppy. “Don’t make me pull you back in there and lose again.”

A laugh burst from Illidan’s throat. “I ought to let you collect _ Maiev _this time.”

“Bah. I didn’t win this morning, either. I have _ no _idea how to drive a dead space goat.”

Illidan chuckled again and watched her for a moment. She was, without fault, a ray of peace for him, even a living good luck charm. And their luck endured. Maybe long enough for another break from fel and strain.

“Do _ Gilneans _have any traditions?” Illidan asked his only friend.

Leo looked over in question and gestured. “Like this? No.” She shook her furry head. “Nothing other than annual harvest bake-offs, a mid-winter ball, and a spring festival. Lots of wine and sweets. For Gilneans,” she looked far up at him with the best smirk a hound could give, “kicking off our shoes and dancing to strings was pretty crazy.”

“Was?” he echoed.

Leo hesitated and looked away. “Well… there hasn’t been much time for that… or desire… since we changed. The world got a lot bigger, that night…” Robbed of everything she knew in a single night.

Illidan hadn’t meant to make her recall such strife.

_ “I _ remember only a _ few _traditions,” he said, hoping to distract her. “It sounds like many more began since I left home,” he thought of her prank with the candy egg. “But in my childhood-”

“Before humans evolved from those monkeys in Stranglethorn Vale, right?” Leo interrupted. When Illidan met her eyes, her dark mouth stretched in a clear grin.

_ “Yes, _ it is _ established _ I’m _ old.” _

“Ancient,” she corrected, eyes sparkling.

“Fine, ancient,” he played along. “As I was saying-” Leo chuckled. Illidan continued: “There was a ceremony twice a year. A moonlight festival with dancing,” he recalled. “In spring, they celebrated fresh life and fertility, with flowers and winter-brewed wine. In fall, they celebrated to thank the land for its bounty.* The food changed but the dances were all the same.”

“They?”

“I’m not exactly one for ceremony. I… _ suffered _a few in my youth.”

_ “Suffered,” _ Leo gave a husky giggle.

“I would rather be off in a cave trying spells the elders didn’t want me using.”

“You know, I _ tried _my hand at magic once. I was nine.”

Illidan huffed. Leo was far from a mage. “What happened?”

“Nothing.”

Illidan stared through silence before realizing it was a joke. He snorted in attempt to quell a laugh, drawing another cackle from Leo.

He enjoyed her company beyond words.

“If I recall right, the harvest moon festival should be in a month,” he said. Illidan stared at her again. “Would you like to learn to dance like a night elf?”

Furry brows fell flat. “You mean all that time _ begging _you to spar, and all you wanted was to dance?”

Illidan chuckled. He took her paw and braced below her arm. He hoped their luck held out long enough.

… He was not prepared.

She could not dance as a wolf. She could not step back in a circle on hind legs, and she could not lean back.

Illidan did not mind.

After a few awkward claws on hooves, Leo sighed and changed back to human. Then sighed again when she remembered how small it made her. Illidan could not help a laugh as she fumbled in her pouch for growth potions.

He adored her to no end.

The potions rose her not even to his navel. Smaller than her shortest wolf height; so small his hands could wrap around her twice. Illidan was not bothered. He bent to reach her.

Leo was more graceful in human form. Her hand was warm in Illidan’s, the hand bracing his arm resonated her hot pulse. At first, she watched their feet, grinning and cursing herself with a giggle at each wrong step. Every smile coaxed out Illidan’s. He caught himself staring at her eyes, her mouth. Dared himself to squeeze the tiny hand in his. Illidan released her waist to spin her. He caught her, this time closer.

_Her breath caught. _

Leo searched Illidan like a blindfold did not hide eyes burned out with fel. She stood frozen with silent breath, so deep Illidan felt her aura pulse against his skin like there was no space between them.

Illidan had not taken time to enjoy life in ages. With her there in his arms, he wondered why.

Leo stared up almost without blinking. When Illidan moved again, she followed his lead every step. Hands held a little tighter. She giggled again each missed step or when she stepped on his hoof. Illidan smiled each time with a surge of affection.

She was sweet, tender, _ soft. _ In _ his _hands.

At that moment, he was living for _ her. _

Illidan picked her up for a final spin. Leo squealed and laughed with shut eyes, and Illidan laughed with her.

_ What he ever did to deserve this… _

He closed her in his arms to set her down, and surprise found him again in the tingle her touch left down his arms. _ It stole his breath. _

They stood there for a moment staring, holding each other. _He wanted to feel it again. _

Illidan did not know what to do with this new turn of life. Didn’t know what to say. Leo was _ more _than a friend.

Wasn’t she?

She was precious, sweet. _ Perfect. _ Happy here with him in this moment.

A gust of wind blew strands of hair across her face. Illidan reached up and pushed them back, tucked her hair behind her ears. And... Illidan was reminded of their differences: his height, violet skin, talons. But Leo gazed without flinching like she saw no differences. She looked at him like he was not over twice her height with monstrous horns and giant wings on his back. She admired him anyway.

_ What was happening to him? _

Illidan released her and took a step back; small, soft fingers slid from his arms in tingling trails, tempting breathlessness. _Creating an urge. _He breathed slow and deep to control the itch to touch her.

As was custom after every dance growing up, Illidan took her hand and dropped to one knee in a bow. “Thank you, Leo.” 

Leo beamed at him when he looked up. Happy as he’d ever seen her. She stepped in and pressed her lips to each side of his face. As if giant horns did not protrude afore her.

_ He did not know a simple kiss caused so much yearning. _

_ He was not prepared for this. _

_ “That _ is how _ Gilneans _thank after a dance.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Not canon as far as I know. Just something for my story.


	34. Chapter 34

Leo was gone days again. Illidan was used to this by now. It often took her days to make her rounds through the Broken Isles. Not to mention her penchant for capturing new pets. With no Paraxis attacks, Illidan had plenty to keep him busy… but between fights, he found his mind on Leo. _How she beamed when he danced with her._ How she looked at him like he had eyes to search. The way she searched him like he had no flaws.

Illidan did not need to be light-forged to earn her respect. He had already gained it. It didn’t fit with his history. It felt surreal. _ She _felt surreal in his life.

He missed her. He missed her laugh and the sparkle in her eyes. _The surge through his skin when she touched him. _He thought of her, and his heart ached.

_ What was he doing? _ This wasn’t supposed to happen. He’d planned for this to be the end. Once they found Sargeras, Illidan would not return.

… Did she feel the same way? Was she thinking of him right now?

Leo announced her return through the device on Illidan’s ear. “Have you died?”

Illidan’s heart leapt and butterflies filled his belly at her voice in his ear. “How can I in your absence? You are the only one capable of killing me.” Only after he answered did he realize he was grinning.

“I can hardly kill anything on my own. Why do you think I bring my pets?”

Illidan chuckled, but felt otherwise. He had let his guard down around her countless times. She would be the death of him again, no doubt. “Where are you?”

“Mac’Aree. Romuul found a _ naughty marsul _ with a _ stolen cupcake.” _

“And you’re going to tame it,” he predicted.

“It is gigantic.”

“You would not attempt to tame less.” Illidan began running to the nearest Lightforge beacon. 

“What are you fighting?” she asked as Illidan landed with a grunt.

“I’m not. I am coming to you.” His breath picked up as he sped to a jagged cliff. His wings caught the hot, stale air and carried him through the sky.

“I _ am _ likely to die here. It is _ very _naughty.”

He found her not far from a transporter on a clean patch of ruin. Though in wolf form, she crouched like a human in grass. Her hair had changed. Looser, feathered. It tousled around her face, emphasizing an almost coy glare in her eyes.

_ “Ah. _ You disappeared to visit the _ barber.” _ Illidan liked it. “That alone must have taken four days.”

Leo’s coy eyes sparkled. “It did. My backside is still numb.” Illidan smiled. He had meant to compliment the skill and how it served her. He had not considered she was shy with flattery. “Does it look bad?”

“You wear everything well.”

Her gaze now narrowed in laughter. “You have not seen me in everything.”

“I should like to.” Illidan only ever saw her ready for war.

Leo searched his blazing eyes like a doe in sudden lantern glow, before waving him off with silent breath. “I’m going to die in _ seconds, _ now.”

Illidan’s mouth stretched. “Not with me here.”

“Yes, you _ are _ my _ hero.” _

“I have kept your secret.” Warmth swelled through him. Their moment of vulnerability was still fresh in his mind as if it happened hours ago, not days. It felt the same now. She did not need to be in his arms for her pulse to bleed through him.

He was glad to know the heat of their dance had not been fleeting.

Leo could not tame the _ naughty _marsul. Fel-strengthened and larger than any marsul they’d encountered yet, but of course that was what drew Leo to it. The more monstrous, the better, and more so if it did not look deadly. And like the ancient spectral match, Leo did not care she could not triumph.

The _ naughty _marsul kept burrowing underground, a pink-frosted cupcake secure in its mouth like they might steal it. They could not catch it. Illidan set rune traps, but the marsul always surfaced elsewhere. Leo tried to wait, ready to snag it with a barb to chain herself to it, but when she managed, it yanked her to the place it burrowed. Each jolt made her laugh. After a few times, it seemed she enjoyed it. She took to pouncing like a cat at mole holes, and this made Illidan laugh. What a sight they must be, mighty demon hunter and ferocious worgen, laughing while they chased a cake-hungry rodent.

Illidan had never had so much fun - genuine, carefree fun - since childhood.

It was a miracle the Legion never attacked.

Illidan lost track of time around them. When the naughty marsul fell at last and Leo held a rusty prize hidden in the cupcake, the sun began to rise. Unlike the rest of Argus, day and night happened here. Leo was hungry and out of wind, and still trembling with aftershocks of laughter. Despite protest, Leo swallowed pride and allowed Illidan to carry her to the Lightforge beacon. To humor his mortified worgen, Illidan set her on his shoulder. A grin painted his face even as the transporter materialized them at the lake.

_ Peace. _ Such a strange feeling for Illidan. It did not happen in his life till Leo was near. The Legion was within sight, and the Void corrupted the land in appealing shades within reach. But Illidan looked at Leo, and she countered the darkness destroying life.

He was not alone anymore. Illidan could not describe the relief of having a life mate… someone to walk his path with him… no matter how close their bodies could not be. _Confidence _she was always there for him.

Illidan watched his worgen. This feeling… When he first saw her after he regained his body, he had not considered anything more than an asset. A resource. He had never befriended a worgen before, let alone a human. With all his sight, he could not have seen her allegiance. Her admiration. He looked at her, and he did not see an animal, or a human. He knew she was such, but Leo was no less graceful and worthy than… any night elf Illidan had known before. Where draenei and elves saw worgen as dirty dogs, Illidan saw a person. Her fur was soft, and her paws a tender touch. She felt no different to him in human form.

He looked at her, and he saw his match. They might have different shapes, but she was to him as he to her.

He knew he should not allow himself this… weakness. For she _ was _ a weakness; _ his _weakness. He also knew he must give her a final farewell, in some manner. And nothing could come of his affection; it physically could not be. But if her destiny was tied to his… did he not deserve a reward for all his sacrifice? Could she not be his reward?

“The Void must think you terribly boring.” Leo sat back on her hindquarters and her long speckled tongue cleaned along her mouth.

Illidan scoffed in amusement and glanced around before stepping toward the sparkling pollution. Blobs of Void seepage rolled about panthera succumbed to its strength. Illidan went by unnoticed like a master rogue. “I should hope so. The Void overpowers even fel.” Unlike fel, tearing the fabric of the world to unleash the Void took great effort. Far easier to summon demons. 

“Thank goodness.” Leo turned a few circles before stretching her limbs with a wide yawn. _ “Everybody _ wears Fel. It is yesterday’s fashion.”

Illidan smirked, eyes drawn to a tree near a stretch of void-infected land. Under it grew an aethril blossom unlike others he’d seen. Like it thrived in the Void, rather than wilted. _ “I _ wear Fel,” he reminded her.

“You _are_ a _trend-setter._ And look where _ that _led to.” Leo rose to hind legs and gestured to her Illidari tabard as she approached.

Illidan’s smirk stretched. He bent to snap the dark blossom from its stem. She was attracted to the Void as much as himself. “So my greatest admirer will be the fall of my hide. Somehow I always knew.” He strode back to meet her. “Here. A more fashionable addition to an ancient fad.” Illidan turned her paws and lay the bloom.

Her eyes grew, interest barbed. _ “Oooh.” _

“You are remarkably easy to reel in,” Illidan teased.

“You see how _ surprised _I am when I don’t die.” Wolfish eyes laughed, locked on the black and violet ocean on each petal. A single finger touched down so gentle the flower did not move, yet the Void rippled beneath her flesh like a stone thrown in water.

It was not hard to see her fascination. It gave validation to Illidan’s fascination. Her destiny _ was _ aligned with his. Together, they were _ right. _

Illidan reached up to feel her mane. Sea salt found his nostrils as lush hair rolled between his fingers. Her head raised till she could see his eyes. Illidan then realized she stood taller than usual; she took potions when he wasn’t looking. Her eyes closed as his thumb smoothed down her brow. Illidan touched every freckle on her velvet snout. She did not have them as a human. He adored them. 

Beautiful in fur as she was in skin.

Illidan indulged himself more. He moved his hand to the back of her head and pressed down, feeling every nook and muscle of her neck. Long tapering lashes opened her eyes with deep breath. Gaze locked. In that moment, nothing existed but the two of them. 

The longer they stared, the more breath grew neglected. The more the feeling of _ wanting to be closer _ grew in Illidan. The tingling from her soft kisses days ago replayed on his face. He wanted it again. A paw at his chest robbed his breath with a magnetic pull. And a pang plucked his heart.

She had no lips to kiss him now. He would suffer desire.

He would suffer for her.

Leo changed. Prospect seared in him; his desire _drove _her. Back to human like she could not help it. Illidan knelt, understanding now she _did _feel what he felt. Sudden rise of emotion made her unable to feel the inner rage that fueled the beast within.

Illidan tied the Void-touched blossom behind her ear to free her hand. Then they stared again. Illidan’s hand strayed, brushing hair off her shoulders. A small hand cradled his as Illidan reached up, warm and delicate. Illidan watched where he traced, her jaw, chin. He plucked her lip with stolen breath. His own began to itch for her.

Leo stared back, her own breath scarce. Clutched his wrist and pressed his hand deeper against her face. She searched his glowing eyes, gaze fell to his mouth. Caught her breath and wet her lips, blinking her eyes to bring her back to a reality they were already stuck in. Her fingers found his face, and the feeling in Illidan’s chest swelled too fast too strong.

It was too much to contain anymore.

Illidan pushed his mouth to hers before he could stop himself. Leo gasped, then melted into him. She was soft, sweet, tender from lips to hands as she pulled herself closer, curling into him. Each kiss flooded Illidan with heat and affection. _ Ardour. _ He could not close his eyes to kiss like she did, but it was perfect all the same, _ romantic. _

_ Sensual. _ She was _drowning_ with him.

_ “The Veiled Den is under attack!” _ hoarse voices of desperate Illidari interrupted in Illidan’s ear device. _ “Master Illidan, we ask your return!” _

Leo and Illidan broke with a sigh. Disappointment mingled with rushing hunger and catching breath.

She searched his fel eyes, stunned and longing.

Heavy breath overtook him a moment. Illidan rested his head on hers, and sighed again when another request for help from his Illidari sounded. He held Leo’s jaw and kissed her once more. “Forgive me,” and stood. “I’ll meet you on the ship.”

Illidan forced himself away before he could lose himself again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It buuuuuuuuuuuuuurns!!!


	35. Chapter 35

_ Neither _were prepared.

While Illidan disappeared to protect his Den, Leo stood dazed, overwhelmed by the first kiss of her life.

Before the curse ravaged her people, Leopoldanna had taught young ones. Well of marrying age, but she preferred the laughter and play of children to suitors. She often found herself prey to daydreams in the presence of other adults. She squirmed in discomfort each time her elders reminded her a young lady ought to marry. She did her best to avoid it, often playing forgetful and naive.

Illidan was her first experience. And romance itself was so sheltered outside a Gilnean marriage bed, Leo was not prepared for the _ power _of his kiss.

She did not know what to do. Such ardor, such _ passion _there one moment, then gone the next. No thoughts existed but a mental replay of the instant his lips pressed hers. Leo wandered back to the transporter, aware of how vacant and distracted she was. She was no use to anyone now. She would lay all her gold on a newborn marsul kit, should one attack.

When she found the pure, crystalline interior of the Vindicaar around her, she was not sure how she arrived. If she had used the Lightforge beacon, it mirrored the warm tingle Illidan left inside her. Her eyes could not focus. Her feet strode on their own accord. Leo gathered the ship could be aflame with battle, and she would be none the wiser. Voices became ambiance with the Lightforged machinery. Lights and faces blurred together. Her feet had a mind of their own, and she was little more than a clueless passenger.

Her reality was nothing more than a mind lost in lingered touch.

… Was he so powerful he could still her mind? Was… _ love _so powerful?

“How does it feel knowing the Chosen One has chosen you?”

It took a hefty moment to realize the voice was not her own or a divine chat. Leo’s head turned toward the sound; so consumed in sensation, she felt every thread of muscle move. She had to blink to bring the face into view.

Romuul, and he chuckled when Leo could not manage more than a sound or two at a time. Still too dazed to function on _ any _world.

“You know, if you need a distraction until your next date, we have _ bombs _in need of placing.” 

This struck Leo as odd. She _ tried _say she thought Velen did not want explosions on board, but she managed not more than a thick stammer.

Romuul released another soft, rolling laugh. “Perhaps you need a date_ now. _Should I summon Illidan?”

“Illidan?”

Romuul shook his head with a grin, focusing the Lightforge map. “That is all she heard. _ Here, _ dreadful Commander.” Romuul pointed between Light’s Purchase and Hope's Landing. “Place the bombs. You can be in and out before they realize what you’ve done.” Romuul turned his gaze with brows of question.

Leo shook her head again, as many times as needed to even out the sensations in her body and she felt her legs and toes again, till she discerned voice from machine once more.

In and out before the Legion knew what she was doing. Run, plant, run. Leo nodded. She was good at running. Much of her time on Argus was spent running from combat. _ Nice and simple. _She nodded at Romuul again before a deep breath and a shake of her limbs, and returned to fel-scorched land.

It was _ not _nice and simple. In any other situation, the first sounds or scents of battle called to the beast within, and Leo transformed without trying. It was not so, this time. 

Others’ efforts of battle did not make her change, nor did direct assault. The beast within had no urge to fight. Not after Illidan’s kiss.

Leo tried again, _ and again, _ but needed to retreat without fail. She could not wield her heavy weapon as a human. She almost could not outrun a spider drunk on fel corruption.

** _What _ ** _ was _ ** _wrong _ ** _ with her? One kiss _ \- well, _ more _ than one kiss - and she became the love-sick girl her whole town wanted her to be. _ She _ \- Commander Leopoldanna, _ general _ of King Wrynn’s outer armies - could not plant _ three self-assembling bombs? _

How had this happened? _ Heavens, _ if _ Anduin _ or _ Khadgar _saw her now, she would never hear the end of it. 

There were none at Hope's Landing to assist her, either. It was a strategic position, and a busy one. Taking even two draenei would leave the camp vulnerable. Leo sighed, then took the beacon to the Veiled Den. Illidan had been there some time. Perhaps there were Illidari to spare.

Illidan twisted to slice a diving bat, ripping its head off before jumping to attack another. Dodging in a roll to avoid a fel hound and cut it from behind brought another unwanted sight.

Leo jumped back to avoid an imp’s flame ball - in _ human _ form. _ As if he needed something to worry about now! _

“What are you doing here like this?” he yelled to her. Her human form was fragile. His _ one weakness _ would not survive here long. He gave a mighty leap and drove his warglaive into a fel hound charging at her.

“I can’t turn!” she shouted over the clamor.

_ “What?” _ Illidan drew arcane energies into his being and uttered words to slow any enemies who ran in.

“I can’t change back, but I have bombs to place where Netherwalkers and Myrmidons patrol!”

“So you came _ here?” _ In her human form, here was no safer. The assault of bats, hounds, and imps meant to exhaust the Illidari before the Paraxis began.

“Illidan, I need your help!” she insisted, looking far up at him.

Illidan sighed. But what choice did he have? He would see to her safety. “I’ll meet you in Hope's Landing. Now _ leave _this place!”

Illidan joined his demon hunters for only a handful of kills more. The Paraxis would arrive regardless of efforts here; he felt its power prime. If the Illidari continued wasting time on demons, they would all perish and their progress delay again. Illidan ordered them to take refuge on the Vindicaar, then took two demon hunters with him to escort Leo.

Leo had good reason to seek his protection. Half a dozen Immortal Netherwalkers and a multitude of myrmidons and fel sorcerers. Even if she stood as a wolf and took one enemy at a time, she would end up overpowered. She could not have sneaked by.

Illidan and his sin’dorei demon hunters rushed ahead, aggravating the mutant protectors of the portal to Texlaz’ ship. Leo’s hippogryph ran with them, drawing its own attention with its violet coat and shrill caw.

The Legion seemed to know their plans, though; it fought back like it did. For every three demons Illidan lured to him, one saw the fragile human as easy prey. Invisibility potions only took Leo so far before Inquisitors revealed her. Illidan held the demons off well enough, but he knew the Legion. They would send more. 

Heavy force caught him from behind and Illidan fell to his knees. Irritation rose from this throat in a growl. How _ typical _of the Legion. A bash to his wings thwarted his low attack, flattening the limbs on his back. Illidan roared; no blade needed for that one. Another roar; not his own; bestial and savage. Illidan turned his head to see a body of grey fur throw itself at the Netherwalker.

A laugh rumbled through Illidan as Leo shredded the demon. The Legion may predict _ him _ all they chose, but they could never predict a worgen’s rage. While wolfish fangs tore the head off, Illidan pushed off the ground and drew demonic weapons back to him. He had her back, as she had his; _ verbatim. _

Leo could not set the bombs as a wolf. Her claws got in the way. Illidan and the tattooed blood elves cleared the way so small human fingers could navigate the Lightforge console of self-assembling bombs. As soon as she armed the last, Illidan grabbed Leo and ran, holding her tight as he soared back to the ground. He did not let her go till they cleared the blast range.

The four Illidari watched the explosion for a moment. Leo, fond of explosions as she was pets, squeezed Illidan’s hand in excitement, cackling.

"Not bad, yeah?” The fire beyond that fell the demonic platform and its portals reflected in her large eyes. She squeezed Illidan’s hand again.

Then realized what she was doing and stepped away, her smile gone. On a sudden shy as she met his eyes.

Illidan watched her. It then occurred to him her inability to change moments ago was _ his _doing. He wondered if their moment of passion by the Mac’Aree lake was premature, or a mistake.

“Thank you,” she told him, holding her arm close against her. Shy, but smiling. Vulnerable with _ him. _

“Thank _ you.” _ Knowing she transformed to protect him was inspiring.

_ Encouraging. _

Illidan had no regrets about their kiss. He wasn’t sure how to go about getting into that mood again… or if it was safe to, since it made her unable to fight. But he wished to continue it.

“Lord Illidan, have you need for us more?”

Illidan looked over. “No,” he told his Sin’dorei demon hunters.

“Then we take our leave. Lady Stormrage, at your convenience, we have need of your expertise.”

Illidan watched his Illidari leave, intrigued.

“Did… you tell them to call me that?” Leo stared after them, curious and uncertain. She watched the blood elves walk a ways before craning her neck to see his burning eyes.

“No.” Illidan wasn’t sure if she took offense to the title. “They smell you on me.” She left a visual aura, as well, when he used his demon sight.

Her brows furrowed. _ “Smell _ me on you?”

“On my skin, where you touched me,” he told her. Her essence had been on him for weeks, most potent since their dance the other day. Intimacy left auras that rivaled rage and fright. _ “I _ can smell your touch. _ All _ touch leaves a remainder.” Illidan studied her a moment. _ “I _ can still _ taste _you.” 

Leo searched him, otherwise frozen. And the feeling returned. The fluttering in his belly and the swelling at his chest that spread like wildfire inside him. A hunger to touch her, to _ taste _her again.

“Do I owe you an apology?” he asked. Underneath the passion they fell into at the lake, Illidan valued the friendship she offered.

“No.”

The only _ No _ Illidan longed to hear. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always confuse the Army of Light camp names.


	36. Chapter 36

Illidan felt the first strike approach before the impact hurled Leo away with a trail of fel. The ground met Illidan’s back with force that cracked a wing and knocked wind from his lungs. When he could breathe again, Leo lay unmoving in her human form, half her body raw and dripping red. The Paraxis had come for _ her; _ retaliation for setting bombs.

Illidan scrambled over to collect Leo. Not dead but close; the Legion was trying to take her away from him. A hoof was raw, but Illidan ran. He clung to his lover, dodging fel that rained in bursts around them. The device on his ear was gone, as was Leo’s. Illidan had no choice but to suffer his wounds and run for the nearest draenei camp.

A mobile beacon began to form around them. Illidan paused, but before the Vindicaar could collect them, the Paraxis barraged and threw him into a rock. A crack echoed so loud he wasn’t sure the source. Horrified he’d broken Leo when he meant to protect her, Illidan shoved through his pain and raced for _ her _life. He could not heal and flee at the same time. He hoped it wasn’t too late.

His hooves landed with a jolt that juddered his bones. In truth, Illidan was not sure how he made it down to Hope’s Landing alive. The Paraxis spared no one. Illidan stepped into the Vindicaar, wounded and bleeding with his human bleeding in his arms. Without words, Illidari converged. Illidan stumbled as they took Leo from him and began working. The draenei healer dispensed a strong area healing spell as eyeless elves sewed every gash on Leo’s body.

Illidan took the moment to assess himself. The Paraxis had not caught him before. Leo had less than a thread of life left by the time Illidan got her to safety, and he had taken significant damage. It was a miracle he got them out alive.

_ It was a mistake. _ He never should have kissed her. If Illidari could sense her affection on him, the Legion knew also. The Legion _ knew _he had a weakness. The Paraxis was already intended, but Leo’s bombs gave the demons a target. No telling what lengths they would stoop to punish Illidan now. 

_ This was his fault. _ He had stalled her when he knew the Paraxis would arrive. 

Illidan healed himself till his hooves stopped bleeding, then he dropped to his knees by Leo’s raw face. His hands swelled with shimmering light as he added his intent to draenei magic. 

If he was to keep Leo, Illidan had one choice: he must finalize his plan. No more stalling. No more falling prey to desire where he could not see the Legion’s destruction. He must take the final steps to end Sargeras.

… and in doing so, say goodbye to Leo forever. 


	37. Chapter 37

Illidan tried to focus on his mission. He busied himself, tried to distance her as if they’d never kissed. Leo healed as if the Paraxis never caught her, even joked it was not like rain at all; _Not good for puddle splashing._ Said she did not blame Illidan. She picked up on his urgency and left for the Broken Isles to make rounds and restock their resources. When she returned to the Vindicaar and Illidan still tried to pretend attraction did not exist, Leo played along without question. But she stared at him, more and more as time passed.

He would stare back sometimes, wanting to speak, longing to reach for her. But he fought desire like he fought the demon inside. 

He hoped she understood this was for her safety.

The day they killed behemoths Hadrox and Radix for the destruction of Light’s Purchase, Illidan carried her back to Hope’s Landing. She stared at him again, resting on his arm, until her fur dissipated in black fog. The human was far easier to read.

“You know,” she said, releasing his horn to run her fingers through his long hair. “The Legion has been watching us for months, now.”

“Has it been only months?” He wasn’t sure what to say. She said _ Us. _ He could sense where this was going.

“They _ already _ want to kill us, and I’ve killed _ plenty _ of _ them _before I even stepped foot here. That’s not about to change.”

“It is sometimes _ alarming _how you read my mind.” The tingle her fingers left on his scalp rippled all through his being. Almost more than he wanted Sargeras gone, he wished to lose himself in her touch.

She hesitated, still staring. “Do you regret it? Regret… _ me?” _

Illidan’s burning orbs flew to hers. _“No.”_

Hope surged inside her like an extra heartbeat.

He frowned and returned his eyes to the fel-charred ground beneath them. “And… yes.”

She could not hide disappointment. “They’ve had motive to kill you longer than I’ve been alive,” she reminded him.

His frown deepened as he met her eyes. They knew she had a weakness now, which meant they knew _ his. _

As if reading his thoughts again, Leo shook her head. “I’m not afraid of them.”

_ “I’m _ … afraid of what they will _ do _to you.”

She paused again, then shrugged. “Well, they’re in for a surprise, _ whatever _ they plan. I _ never _ die forever. That’s _ bound _ to _ irritate _ them.” She nodded when Illidan met her eyes. “I’ve picked up a few tricks from the imps, as well. _ Nobody _ likes _ them.” _She shook her head. The corner of Illidan’s mouth stretched. She did not understand the power and creativity of the Legion, but he appreciated her humor all the same. A ray of pure moonlight even when she broke his heart.

The only one who _ could _break his heart.

The cleared spider den gave him a moment, at least. With luck, no one spied them. Illidan brought her closer and buried his face at her neck. Her heartbeat thumped through scaled armor against his cheek. “One way or another, I will lose you here.”

In silence, they stood embracing. For the moment, nothing but the sound of their breath and the emanation of her heart surrounded them. Leo cradled his head, nestled between jagged horns. Fingers slid through his hair and down his scalp, causing a shiver. He dared tighten his large arms around her fragile frame.

Then: “Is it because I’m _ teeny?” _ she asked, her voice full Gilnean animation.

Illidan could not help the laugh. “That has not stopped me _ yet.” _He pulled back to see her eyes. Hopeful as she had ever been.

He would take it as a sign his efforts against evil had not gone unnoticed by the Goddess. 

_ Teeny _ lips pushed against his. _ So small _ in his hands, but Illidan drank her in anyway, grateful for the stolen time.

His _ only _reward.


	38. Chapter 38

Y'mera and the aging Prophet kept Leo busy on Mac’Aree. Leo and Illidan had been there countless times, but now, Velen had history to teach. Leo was the only one on board who did not know the full tale of Sargeras’ role in the corruption of Kil’jaeden and the draenei home world.

Illidan knew Argus’ history well; he had learned it in his search to end Sargeras. While he destroyed demons on the Antoran Wastes, Illidan listened in through Leo’s ear device anyway. When the Paraxis fell; though it never fell on Mac’Aree; he listened through Leo’s pet drained Eye Scout. He listened in because he worried he had overlooked something.

Illidan was _ so close. _ He could not afford to miss _ anything. _

Y’mera sought Leo’s help in restoring the Crown of the Triumvirate, a set of crystals housing all knowledge of the ancient eredar. Leo’s skills as Huntmaster ensured Y’mera could guide them where they needed to go without fear of Mac’Aree’s aggressive wildlife. Leo, as Y’mera pointed out, was also an outsider. The Gatekeeper, automaton protector of the Crown, could not predict a species it had no knowledge of, thus could not trick Leo into failing. 

Illidan took deep interest in the Crown of the Triumvirate. Velen informed it would allow them to breach the gates of Antorus, Sargeras’ Burning Throne. If they could not find a way to restore that key crown, they had come here for nothing. All Illidan’s efforts would be for naught.

He felt himself obsessing over it. Obsession was necessary, though. The Legion never rested, so neither should Illidan. He listened to every word Velen said and replayed it a dozen times. He sat in meditation, using Sargeras’ _ gift _sight to scour the whole of Argus for hidden entrances or back doors into the Burning Throne. Illidan took extra precaution to shield his essence from the Legion so he could travel by spirit around the land, hoping to learn some new weakness. The harder he studied, the more he felt if he paused, the Legion would slip up and Illidan would lose an advantage.

And the more he obsessed over _ The End, _ the deeper it sank that he would lose Leo. Stopping Sargeras would be the death of him - _ or her, _ or he would remain to ensure Sargeras could not destroy life again. Either way, a final farewell to Leo was due. Illidan had already recorded messages to her, his brother, and Tyrande on a memory crystal; an attempt to make peace with a bittersweet decision.

But it did not ease the pain. He was running out of time with Leo, and in attempt to hide his heartbreak, Illidan grew irritable. Even with Leo.

His attitude did not deter her, as he felt it should. _ He should not have grown so close to her. _ She remained at his side, and it only ripped Illidan further apart inside.

How would _ she _take his farewell? 

Leo plopped down alongside him at the console one bright morning over Mac’Aree. _ “I _ know what you need!”

“I am _ hardly surprised. _ ” It came out sour, as if he loathed her. 

_ It was not so._

She paused, taken aback. Illidan felt her begin to withdraw. He suspected if he looked at her now, his aching heart might crumble in regret.

Leo shook it off and composed herself. _ “You _ need a _ vacation!” _ her voice was full of far too much cheer. A practiced proposal.

“A _ what? _” Illidan glared at her.

Her eyes bulged as if she couldn’t believe he’d snapped at her. “Oh, come on,” she scoffed. “Even _ you _ need a break _ sometimes.” _

“I’ve taken _ many _ breaks. They have _ all _ led to you _ dyi-” _ Illidan turned his head and sighed. “No. I cannot rest. We are too close,” he added, trying to make it sound like the case.

Leo stared hard at him, searching. Sorrow filled her aura. She hurt for him. Illidan felt it like he felt the fel tattoos on his skin.

“Illidan?” A small, warm hand touched his arm. “Look at me.” Her voice was soft. “Please?”

Illidan did as she bid him, but not after trying to convince himself not to. It would be easier in the end to push her away now.

The look on her face said otherwise. Illidan worried about _goodbye,_ but _she _worried for _him._ _“Leave_ with me. _Please._ You _need _a _holiday.”_ When Illidan did not reply, Leo sighed. “What happens if we reach Antorus and you are too frayed to outwit him? To do what needs to be done because you’ve been _straining _yourself for _weeks? _When did you last eat? Or sleep?”

Illidan could not argue her logic. In the past, he had allowed concubines and recreation for his followers for the same reasons. He would not risk failure when Sargeras was in his grasp.

“Where do you propose we go? Our absence will not go unnoticed.”

“My Garrison.”

Illidan frowned deeper, this time not in angst. She had suggested this before. From Romuul’s tales, Illidan couldn’t imagine anything there would calm him.

_ “Granted,” _ she cocked her head, “your presence there will pretty much be a _violation_ of _ space, time, _ and _ magic, _ because in _ that _ reality, you are dead-” Leo paused with a hesitant glance to his eyes. _ “Black Temple-dead,” _ she clarified in a squeak and narrowed shoulders. She rushed on: _ “Yet _ you never made it to Outland _ and _ Orcs never invaded Azeroth, _ so…” _She broke off with a shrug when she noticed Illidan’s high brow.

If Illidan had never seen the mutitude of universes the Burning Legion conquered, his head might spin at her words. “Dead but not. _ Demon _but not. Makes perfect sense.”

“I never claimed it makes sense. Khadgar _ still _laughs about explaining it to me.”

“Does _ Khadgar _even understand it, though?” It was rhetorical. There were more important things to talk to his life mate about.

… Including apologize for his lack of participation.

Illidan studied her. She was sincere; he had never seen her not. And Illidan enjoyed being an enigma. Visiting her Garrison where he stood as the impossible might do what she hoped to achieve. 

“When do we leave?”


	39. Chapter 39

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mild NSFW.

Leo took a deep breath before leading Illidan out of the town hall. “You know, this is only the second time I’ve been here as a human.”

Illidan looked down at his… mate. If such could be said still. “Do they not respect your rage?” he asked.

“You know me.” Leo shrugged, looked ahead through the doorway that led to a bright, open yard. “I get carried away exploring.” She paused. “The hunt is ripe, here, and I move faster on all fours. There was no way I could see everything I wanted before sundown.”

“I can’t imagine sunset stopping you.”

“It doesn’t.” She looked far up at him, shaking her head. “But so many places here light up at night. It was easy to forget I had other plans.”

“And now, you think your soldiers will not recognize you?”

“No, I’m sure they will. It’s just…” She looked shy again. “I’ve also never brought anyone here. Let alone a…”

“Half-demon?” he finished for her.

Her eyes flew to his. “A partner.”

So this was Leo’s equivalent to announcing a lover to the family. Announcing her devotion.

Illidan did not feel he deserved the honor. He had not treated her like a mate in weeks. She admired him so much the absence of his affection did not deter her.

With a deep breath, Leo stepped out into the bright world. Illidan followed, determined to live up to her perception of him.

Illidan watched her catch up with old friends. Elves, orcs, draenei, gnomes, goblins, arakkoa, pandaran, and dwarves. An _ ogre. _ Even _ lich-tainted undead! _ Illidan had not seen so many races together at once, let alone in harmony. Humans made up most the guards, but Leo gravitated toward the non-humans, moreso if they spoke of explosives. Illidan felt this explained much about her.

Leo laughed, hugged, cheered an achievement. Illidan tried to fall behind and give her space, but she kept returning to guide him by the hand. She led him to the Inn - he almost had to crawl in - and insisted he drink with her. She glanced at Illidan, then held his gaze with a soft smile. And Illidan remembered why she left this place she fit so well in.

_ Him. _ Leo left the comfort of her garrison to help him fight the Legion.

After a few drinks, Leo remembered she had a garden and ran to unite with it. Illidan followed without hurry. There was still too much to take in for time he had here. His path, for instance, was shared by… _ things; _ minuscule creatures of various breed. It hit him with a defeated sigh. _ Pets. _ He should not expect less in this place Leo called home.

He stopped to watch Leo tarry in the scent of garden flowers. Silky auburn hair fell down her shoulder as she cradled a blue bloom at her face, and a soft smile of relief spread. Illidan could smell her content from where he stood. She _ was _at home here. She must have been homesick the entire time Illidan knew her. He knew what that felt like; it was why he fought Sargeras to begin with. He missed his homeland. All those times of asking him to visit must have been Leo’s way of saying she missed her Garrison.

He regretted denying her.

When Illidan turned, he found himself at a pond. A few men fished along one edge near a pandaran who spoke to a treant. Demon sight showed him an underwater cave lay home to luminescent fish. The other side of the pond tugged at him.

Willowy trees reached over like they meant to drink from the pond. Pink buds and flying larvae began to glow in the approaching twilight. White blossoms grew up out of sparkling water to the rock wall that shaped it, long roots tangling with moss till it reached the pond again. Tiny water bugs skated around lily pads and hungry fish mouths like they were competing.

Illidan had seen this before. He remembered playing in ponds like this as a child.

In a series of leaps and tall steps, Illidan made his way up to a lush green patch and sat beneath long, weeping branches. Longing and nostalgia weighed his heart.

_ This _was why Leo brought him here. She knew he was homesick, too.

It was a thing he tried to forget long ago.

Leo joined him after some time. Illidan did not need to look up to know it was her. In truth, he had a hard time tearing his eyes away from the scene around him. “This pond reminds me of Suramar growing up,” he told her.

“I’m fond of it myself,” she said. “Almost like its own little world.” Illidan nodded, in part approving of the scent she carried with her. She smelled like the living bouquet in her garden, sweet, succulent. Hints of tart nectar.

“It is serene here. _ Magical. _ Untainted by demons.” His eyes continued to survey the paradise. “It almost does not feel real. It feels _ too pure _ to be real.”

“It’s real. I promise.”

A small hand on his drew his attention. Illidan searched her eyes. She knew him, knew he needed this… perhaps better than he knew himself.

He reached up touch her face; she did not flinch at the giant digits larger than her head. “Dalah’surfal, shaha lor'ma.” He meant it to his core.

They sat locked in gaze before Leo admitted, “Language is… not my strength.” Her eyes apologized to him.

A small smile tugged at Illidan’s mouth. She was so talented he didn't quite believe it. Perhaps she questioned her ears and wanted him to repeat his affection. He wove his fingers through her hair a moment longer before bringing her hand to his lips. “Thank you for this… my Beloved.” A sigh slipped from Illidan. “I wish I could give you more than words.” After these past anxious weeks, Illidan hoped she believed him.

Twilight passed into darkness before either spoke again. Illidan was content sharing serenity with her. They did not have it on Argus or Azeroth.

“Erm,” Leo broke the comfortable silence, “I’ve arranged for us to stay the night.”

“I had hoped you’d suggest it.”

“I… _ believe _the lack of noise means my carpenters have finished your cabin.”

Illidan met her eyes. “We can’t have been here so long.”

Leo’s eyes were wide and innocent. “They are _ very fast.” _

The _ cabin _ was so tall Illidan walked through the door without hitting his horns, the ceiling as well. It seemed it _ had _been made for him. He looked at his surroundings: fresh elven herbs perfumed at the glowing hearth, books, teas. Hot stew over the fire. The bed was even large enough to hold him. Countless hands must have rushed to prepare all this for him in the time he arrived.

Leo gestured to the enormous bed. “You know… in case you wish to attempt sleep.” She looked almost sheepish as she explained, “I just wanted to give you one normal experience in a world where… very little is possible for… _ us _ because of our enemy.” _ Sheepish. _

As if she needed to apologize for offering him comfort.

He suppose he helped his case none by denying every prior chance for rest.

All was quiet for a moment. Illidan felt his way around this temporary home. A place with human comforts, but those differed little from Kal’dorei. “Where will _ you _be tonight?” He pressed the drying herbs between his fingers, inhaled the nectar of fresh cut fruit.

Leo gestured. “In the barracks.”

Illidan met her eyes. “With _common guards?”_ He expected a Commander to have her own quarters. 

“Yeah.” She shrugged. “They work as hard as I do.”

“I fail to see that. But I will take your word.” Illidan paused, running his finger along the frame of the bed _ made for him. _ “What if I asked you to share the night with me?”

Leo’s eyes flew to his, no doubt trying to decipher his words. He wondered if he needed to tell her the night could press on any way she wished. The last thing he wanted was to make her uncomfortable with him.

“I… would…” she took a deep breath. _ “Accept.” _

Illidan nodded. “I'd hoped you would.” The bed sank beneath him, plush, made of the soft down of elekk calves and nesting gryphons. He could smell it.

He couldn’t remember when he last sat on a bed.

Leo made a noise of surprise and pulled a new vial from her pouch, along with the typical two she took to grow.

“What is that?” He asked her.

“An ogre growth potion.”

Illidan’s brow stretched in uncertainty. “And… you’re _ drinking _it?” He watched her swallow it like a shot of hard drink.

“I’ve had it before, just not with these two. And _ never _ in _ this _form.”

Illidan watched her enlarge, and again as she swallowed one of her usual potions. “Mixing your poisons. Nothing could go wrong there,” he joked, though concerned. Anything an ogre concocted was sketchy, even by _ his _standards.

She continued to grow for a good minute, even as she set the third empty vial down. Leo looked down, twisted, inspecting for mutations, or admiring. “I certainly _ feel _taller.” She said. Her eyes flew to Illidan. “Could you stand?”

Illidan did as she asked, also curious how tall she was now.

Leo now came to his ribs. By far the tallest she stood in human form. At least as tall as Kal’dorei women. He gathered her wolf form could match his own height.

Leo looked impressed, and examined the torso before her. “I should probably stock up on this, yeah?”

Illidan nodded. “You should return to the Vindicaar this tall.” He could not tear his eyes from her.

Leo smirked. “They’ll think we’re up to something.”

“They _ ought _to.”

They searched each other. For a moment, the only sound in the room was the crackling fire. They had not been alone like this. Part of Illidan did not wish to waste the opportunity.

The other part wondered how it would affect his final farewell.

She lifted a hand to touch him. Her eyes fell his chest, contemplative, tracing the muscles. She ghosted over the scar Arthas gave him, then began outlining his tattoos. Slow, meticulate. Illidan wondered how long she'd waited to touch him.

Every moment strengthened the tingle her fingers left on his skin. Illidan had not been touched like this. Not by a lover. Before long, it crept down his front. Like she was trying to summon his desire. Lingered like she wanted it.

Illidan stared at her, considering her new size. She fit in his arms, now. He could hold her as _ tight _ as he wanted and she would not break. He could… _ lose _himself in her tonight…

He shoved his mouth to hers, all the passion and yearning he’d suppressed pouring into her. Illidan closed her arms around his neck and picked her up, drawing a moan as he squeezed her against him. He sank to the bed and _ tasted _her, dragged his hands to feel her curves, tugged till her blouse came free and her bare skin was on his. Pressed on her hips to bring her closer to him.

Leo pulled back with a gasp and searched his eyes. Her breasts heaved with heavy breath, pushing harder against him.

“I want more-" a heavy inhale interrupted. He'd not breathed so shallow before. He longed to hear _her_ shallow breath. "-with you.” Illidan found her mouth again, tender, _ needing._ He _could not_ get enough of her.

He wished they had eternity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regarding Illidan's... capabilities. Some popular fan theories are his wanker was sliced off by Arthas in their mighty battle. The cinematic, I admit, can easily be interpreted as so. But in "Illidan" the book, his scar is described as on his side (if I recall right), not his chest. So it goes to stand the cinematic took time to show Illidan's overconfidence in battle, and it was certainly dramatic for Arthas to throw his evil sword like that. 
> 
> In case it isn't clear: No, I do not think Illidan lost his boy parts.


	40. Chapter 40

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New chapter!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly nsfw.

Leo awoke cradled in Illidan's arm. His hot skin heated her like a blanket. Still clouded and fluttering from the night, she watched her hand rise and fall to a steady rhythm on his violet chest before looking to his face. 

Illidan slept.

He had made it clear countless times he never slept. Always still when he meditated, but otherwise immune to sleep. 

His breath was never so even during meditation like it was now; often he didn't breathe at all then. His arm tightened around her when she touched his face, reminding her she was as bare as he. But he did not wake. _Content_ enough to sleep. For once. 

Leo's thoughts fell back to the night. She had never been so intimate with anyone as Illidan had made her feel. Just thinking about it awoke her body in tingles of desire. She never imagined lovemaking could be so _consuming,_ such a tangle of desperation and ardor. The _ idea _ of licking someone never sounded appealing until his hot tongue slid over her skin. Till he had tasted mounds and crevices she had hidden from the world her whole life. The _ itch _he conjured in her with every graze and prod. She never felt so engaged and whole as when he filled her. She had taken one look and thought herself _far_ too small, but his entry was magic itself. He'd conquered her body in an instant; her mind far sooner. She had never known ecstasy before.

It was beautiful. 

The Lord of Outland. The Betrayer. The rejection and isolation he embodied so well was nothing more than a mask for unbounded love. 

And he had given it all to her.


	41. Chapter 41

Illidan was hesitant to leave the comfort of Leo’s Garrison. He was uncertain how the Legion fit in this alternate world, but there in her Garrison, it was pure. Illidan could live happy with her. Not judged, not feared, no one dying to imprison him.

_Content. _It would have been perfect.

But… Sargeras defied time and space. He would send his Burning Legion in time. It meant the comfort of the Garrison could never happen again.

Illidan and Leo returned to the Vindicaar, and for a while, stood in silence. Almost… a feeling of displacement. The draenei ship did not feel like home. That cabin - _that bed_ \- in her Garrison did.

“Well…” Leo squeezed his hand with a shrug. “I _brought _those _potions,”_ she met his eyes. “at… least.” The ogre growth potions.

Illidan’s mouth stretched, triumph and confidence reeling in him. She wanted him to make love to her again. Here, they had _demons _to fight, but…

He supposed he could make time for that, too.


	42. Chapter 42

Illidan made her a priority this time around. He fought alongside her every chance he had, using the excuse he _escorted_ her through Legion territory. When the Paraxis fell, he stole moments of peace with her in empty, darkened rooms of the Vindicaar. Most of these he spent holding her, feeling her beneath his hands, breathing in her scent. Soaking up ambiance of the one who worshiped him and no other.

Illidan pressed his lips to a bare shoulder. Her coarse coat conformed to his touch as skin did. A long arm coated in hair reached up to cradle the horned head behind her. Illidan loved her in fur or without.

Holding her now, Illidan felt he’d wasted his long life trying to impress another who did not want him. Love found him anyway. All he’d needed to do was wait for Leo.

Leo towered over all but Illidan again. Not as tall as when they found ecstasy in embrace, but she stood out as usual. She finished clasping small bombs and purses to her belt, and the empty sack she kept for oddities she found. While the Paraxis continued another round, Illidan made for the Fel Hammer, and Leo had business in Stormwind. 

“Kiss me.”

Leo the giant hound looked at him, then the busy bodies in the Dalaran landing yard. She met his eyes with a grimace. “There are _ people _here.”

Illidan could not hide he adored her. _ “And?” _

Leo made a noise like she inhaled pollen. “I don’t have lips like this.”

He would beg if she so desired. _"__Please?”_ His gaze did not stray. Illidan did not care for the inhabitants of Dalaran. He would not remember their reactions.

Leo huffed and glanced away. Her eyes darted in thought. Then she stepped in and lifted her head. A long, wet tongue ran from Illidan’s chin to nose.

An unstoppable smile spread with the swelling in his chest. Her kiss felt no different than when she stood as human.

“Thank you,” he told her, cradling a furry hand in his. Leo glanced toward others and snorted, abashed. Illidan did not mean to chuckle. Her embarrassment was always endearing.

Leo raced away on all fours before Illidan could embarrass her more. 


	43. Chapter 43

Illidan’s worgen returned sour, troubled. Allari in Azsuna had sent word Leo would make rounds in the Broken Isles for last minute resources and troops. Now, Leo avoided Illidan, pacing and growling. A _provoked_ hound. Something went wrong.

“What happened?” Illidan watched her scowl and pace.

She would not look at him. Every time she turned and he returned to her peripheral, she snarled again. She had not even left the arrival loft.

When all he got from her was more growling, Illidan sighed and moved her to a quiet corner. She growled and grumbled at him for carrying her like luggage under his arm.

“Next time, move willingly.” Illidan stood between her and the noise of the ship, arms over his chest. He let her vent through snarls and hard snorts that shook her head.

At last, she stopped growling and dropped to the floor. A paw draped to hide her eyes and Leo whined.

A hound _ abused. _

Illidan crouched and brought a tender touch to her head. _ “Dalah’surfal,” _ he spoke as gentle as he could. She knew those words now. “What happened?”

Now both paws covered her face. “That _Tyrant,_ _Whisperwind. _She _called _me your_ lapdog.”_ Illidan sighed inside. He should have known this would happen. The encounter outside Suramar City had been deriding.

Leo uncovered her face to fumble at her belt till she found a small pink crystal and set it between them. She kept her eyes closed the whole time.

A memory crystal. Illidan picked it up and coaxed its record out.

“All this time, I thought you were the sensible one.” Tyrande’s voice, clear and unwelcoming. “But you are _ just like _ him, reaching for power you don’t understand no matter _ how _ many innocents you harm along the way. You _ reek _ of his _ filth, _ I _ smell _ it _ all over _ you. _ How _many lives have you destroyed believing his lies?” 

Illidan felt a gnawing inside. Tyrande’s words were cruel, but it might snag deeper for Leo. Before Illidan realized he cared for the worgen, she had tried to help him reconnect with Tyrande. Leo must think he still wanted an elf.

Illidan crushed the crystal in his palm. There was no reminder now. “It would seem we need to speak about Tyrande.”

Leo whipped an angry, hurting head up. _ “Why!” _ she snapped. Illidan only ached for her.

“Perhaps I have not made my feelings clear enough.” He collected the right words in his head before he spoke again: He no longer cared for Tyrande. He did not miss her, and her words to Leo angered him. _ “You _ are all I endure for now. You do not need to worry about that.” _ Leo _was his match, no other.

While Leo slept that night, Illidan took the teleporter to Dalaran and made his way to Val’Sharah, to the Temple of Elune. He intended to confront Tyrande. 

_ There she was. _Fighting alongside dryads, kal'dorei, and treants. Nightmare-corrupted treants, satyrs, and demons fought back, unable to breach the Temple steps.

The sight of her did not stir his emotions like it had it the past. Watching her fight, watching her break to confer and breathe, he could not fathom how he yearned for her before. Impressive, but not enough. She seemed so… ordinary now. He waited above cloaked in magic, until Tyrande entered the broken temple alone to pray. Illidan dropped without noise into a dark corner. Tyrande raised her head as if she smelled him… or smelled Leo.

_ “Tyrande,” _ Illidan scolded, stepping out of the shadows. 

Tyrande scowled. _ “Leave _ this place. You do not belong here.” 

Illidan did not move. “I know where I belong now.” Tyrande hesitated, no doubt thinking of Leo. _ “You owe _ her an _ apology.” _

Tyrande scoffed. “A great warrior and invaluable asset has fallen into corruption. I will _ not _ apologize. That is _ her _ fault, _ not _ mine.”

“Leo has served you as any loyal Kal’dorei, even when you did not approve.”

_“She _has spread your demon filth over _pure lands._ _Your influence_ has _cost _me! Malfurion _meditates _on her now! _My husband’s_ efforts are spent _counseling _that dog when she is in Val’Sharah, because of _you._ You have cost me a valuable resource _and my husband.”_

Illidan glared hard. So much disdain for Leo, so much emphasis on _ husband._ She reeked of envy. “It is far too late for jealousy, Tyrande.”

_“Ah,”_ Tyrande almost scoffed. “You have found another obsession _ at last. _ Perhaps now that your days are spent _ marking _ your territory, _ I _ can get back to protecting _ my _people.”

Illidan braced the wall, closing Tyrande in knowing full well she might wound him for doing so. At that moment, Illidan did not care. He seethed with a tight jaw, so close he felt her breath. All Illidari were elven, save for the one she insulted. _“Your people_ are out there protecting _you._ _Including _Leo.” Tyrande stared as Illidan stepped back and opened a portal to the Fel Hammer; she could not follow him. “_Make amends_ to your _resource,_ Priestess. Do _not _force my return.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As of writing this, I really did not like Tyrande or Malfurion. I loved her accent and dress, and his quests on Darkshore (pre-BfA), but they seemed selfish and not right for each other. But after unlocking the Voild Elf in BfA, I have a new love for them both. The new Tyrande reminds me of young Tyrande described by WoW lore, and Malfurion is badass and devoted to her, loving her so much he does not question what she needs done (like he did with releasing Illidan and other occasions). I do not like the canon way they regard/treated Illidan, but I love their BfA selves.


	44. Chapter 44

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New chapter!

“I suppose I owe you an apology.”

Illidan looked up from the console scans to find Leo holding her arm, head hung and toe trying to dig through the floor. “What for?” He dismissed the scanner and turned to face her.

Leo hesitated before raising her eyes. Illidan couldn’t imagine what might make her so timid. Did she expect his anger? “I… _ growled _at you.”

Illidan studied her a moment. “You had reason. I was never offended.”

Leo’s eyes pinched above a small pout like she did not feel worthy of his forgiveness. Though her head hung, her eyes moved like she tried to see him without looking. “What did you say to her?”

Illidan almost huffed. Had Tyrande apologized for once? When he did not answer right away, Leo dared herself to meet his gaze.

“I told her she would regret demeaning you again,” he said. “You deserve better than her jealousy.”

Leo always searched him like he had eyes. “Jealousy?”

“Who are we talking about?” Romuul asked.

Illidan glanced back. He’d almost forgotten the artificer stood at the console with him. _ “We _ are talking. _ Not _to you.”

Romuul shrugged. “With such proximity, I figured I was included. And I am too curious for my own good.” Illidan frowned. Romuul was friendly enough, but Illidan wondered about him sometimes. Romuul glanced over. “No, really. Who are you talking about? Few disrespect the Commander and live. I have seen many try.”

Illidan could not argue that. But the conversation needed concluding. His life mate needed assurance. He turned back to Leo and held out his hand. They could not escape on Argus with the Paraxis falling, but Illidan knew places in the Broken Isles the Legion did not deem important. As soon as Leo put her small hand in his, Illidan led her away.

He kept a vigilant gaze as they secured a drake from Dalaran to Suramar. By now, Illidan was sure Tyrande and his brother told all kal’dorei there and Val’sharah that Leo followed _the Betrayer._ He hoped their presence would not cause trouble. Illidan brought her there to get her thoughts away from it.

“Did Tyrande apologize?” Illidan had no trouble guiding the dragon around the small frame in front of him.

“Not really.” Leo sat stiff until Illidan bent an arm around her, then she melted against him with a sigh. Relief bled through her skin to his. So guilty she’d growled at him she did not feel she could seek him for comfort. “I’ve never known her to apologize.”

Illidan agreed with a shake of his head. “It would not inconvenience her to start now.”

Leo paused. “She deemed me _ reliable _again and stuffed the satchel extra full. And stared at my tabard the whole time. She also told me to say you needn’t return.”

Illidan snorted. “We will see.”

"Why would she be jealous?" she asked.

He huffed now. "Her _darling husband_ worries for a little worgen these days." The thought amused Illidan to no end. 

Leo scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Well, that is _fabulous,"_ she uttered. She glanced up and held her gaze. Leo was silent while watched him, leaning to see his face. “What _ did _you tell her?”

“Do you not trust my words?” Perhaps she still thought he felt an inkling for Tyrande, even after everything. When Leo did not answer, Illidan felt a pang in his chest. Was his love not obvious? _ “You _ are why we are here. Not her.”

Illidan landed the drake on a peak just past Anora Hollow. A serene niche of land with the sounds of tiered waterfalls, chirping hippogryphs, and yawning stalkers; excess ley in the water made them lazy. Manashells still swam the pools with koi and pond skippers. The land had changed little since he ran through as a child.

“Do you know why I brought you here?” Illidan helped her down from the drake. 

“No.”

Illidan looked at the view below them. The nostalgia in his heart rang a different tune than when he used Leo’s pet Eye to see the land. “I climbed up here in my youth. Tyrande and Malfurion called it pointless when hippogryphs were so easy to tame. I shouted down for them, dared them to jump with me. If you run that way-” he pointed behind them “-and jump by that tree, you land in the water. I had done it many times alone. But they called me mad. It was not the eyes I was born with, but _that moment,"_ he said, “I knew I did not fit in. I wanted to _fly_ in a world where others wanted to be carried.” Illidan looked at her. “When you rescued me from Helya, I felt carried. I even resented you for it. But as I grew to know you, I remembered how the wind felt beneath my wings.” Illidan clasped her hand and met her eyes. “This was where I first knew I wanted to fly. I brought you here because I don’t need the sky beneath me anymore. I want you to understand this. You have taken me farther than the wind ever could.”

Leo stared up at him like she didn’t know how to respond. Illidan wasn't sure he wanted one. He meant to lay bare his devotion so she relied on it. Magic surged through his hands as he pulled ley and dust of mineral from the air, winding them in a chain that would only break with his death. A necklace to compliment the dip of her collar above her bosom, and his adoration. He wove it around her neck so bonded there was no seam; loose enough to stay when the wolf took over. He broke a talon off his wing; he did not mean to show pain, but he would bleed for her. Illidan tugged at the threads of ley till it held his claw in place.

Fitting it looked like a trophy. She conquered him long ago.

It was all he knew to show he had given himself to her forever.

… Something to remember him by when the end of Sargeras separated them.

Illidan held out his hand. “Dalah’surfal, will you jump with me today?”

Leo searched his burning eyes, her own glossing as she lay her hand on his. “I will _ always _ jump with you, Illidan. _ Anywhere.” _


	45. Chapter 45

_ It was happening. _

The final stage of his long plan was in play.

So many breaks along the way, so many dead. Elven Illidari stayed behind to keep the Legion from following them in. The Army of light did their best to protect through Antorus, but it made little difference in the enemy’s lair. Illidan lost count how many times he healed his lover’s body so her soul could return. Leo was no match for this place.

Yet she followed him to The End.

_ It was done. _

Sargeras faced judgement. He suffered Illidan’s determination and Leo’s wrath, only to face his Pantheon kin. _ Unworthy. _ Illidan almost could not believe the scene before him. It was _ over. _ Sargeras was being punished. The Pantheon revoked Sargeras’ right to protect the worlds, to create. They bound him and imprisoned him. The war, the _ destruction _was over and Illidan had accomplished his mission.

_ At long last. _

Illidan hesitated while the others turned their backs to leave. During Leo’s last death, he had slipped the memory crystal with his farewell into her potions pouch. If she left with the others before noticing Illidan, _ goodbye _would not hurt as much.

“Illidan.” Prophet Velen had noticed he’d not joined them. Illidan did not look back. He hoped Leo had gone ahead. “It is over,” Velen reminded. “Let us leave this place.” 

Illidan still clutched his warglaives. It was not over for him. _ This _was the end that awaited him. He would ensure Sargeras could never threaten Azeroth again.

“Illidan?” _ Leo. _

He tried to conceal the sigh that sank his shoulders. _ He needed her to leave. _ She should have left with Khadgar.

_ “Illidan?” _ Leo pressed in concern. Human again.

Illidan turned his head, but did not meet her gaze.

Velen seemed to understand. He touched Leo’s shoulder. “Come, Leopoldanna.”

_“No._ Velen,_ wait! No!_ _Illidan?” _Leo rushed to Illidan and took his arm. “Illidan, come _on._ It’s _done. Sargeras _is done. You _did _what you came to.”

Illidan found her eyes. She took a choppy breath when he did not answer. Her brows pinched tighter.

“You can _ come back _ with me. Please?” _ Heartache. _

Her face fell further when he did not speak.

She knew now he meant to leave her.

Illidan’s heart crumbled. A sorrow deeper than he knew possible stabbed him inside. He dropped his warglaives and fell to a knee, resting his head on hers. “It is not done for me, dalah’surfal.” _ My beloved. _ “I must see this till _ his _end. You can go home and make a life, now.” She had the necklace with his claw. A part of him would always stay with her. 

_ “No! _ This _ isn’t right!” _ Leo argued. _ “Illidan, please.” _ When he did not respond, she tried harder to convince him. “I _ have _ no home there, Illidan. Argus was _ always _my end.”

“Leo.” Illidan ached for them both. The pain in her aura was stronger than her words.

_ “You _ are my end. I have _ known _ that since we _ arrived.” _ Her eyes teared up as Illidan searched through his final farewell. _ “Please _ don’t do this,” she pleaded, her voice breaking. She wrung his arm with her small hands. Afraid he would disappear if she let go. _ “Please _ don’t leave me. _ Not now.” _ When Illidan still did not agree, she threw her arms around his neck as tight as she could. As if it could keep him from leaving. Illidan did not know what to do but hold her. “I _ love _ you, Illidan. I can’t do this without you! _ You can’t do this to me!” _Tears she tried to hold in wet his skin anyway. “I can’t go back pretending you don’t exist.”

Illidan unhooked her arms with ease and looked at her. He held her small head in one hand, sliding his thumb across her cheek. He watched another tear sneak down.

Never could he have foreseen someone loving him so much. He did not know he could hurt someone so bad. He did not know he could hurt himself like this.

“There… is a crystal in your sack. I ask that you bring it to my brother, then… Tyrande.” If Illidan could cry, the twist of her face would make him. “Then to the wellspring in Mount Hyjal.”

Leo did not breathe for a moment. She searched the blindfold over his burning eyes like she could see through to his soul. A heavy breath trembled her lip again.

She straightened herself, caught her breath, and fumbled her pouches till she found the crystal. She stared at the crystal with a frown of anguish before hurling it through the air.

“Velen?” She clutched Illidan’s hand. Velen caught the crystal and raised a brow at her. “Have Khadgar take that where it needs to go.”

_ She would stay with him. _

Relief, and heartbreak, flooded Illidan. If he survived Pantheon space, he would watch her die in time. But he did not have to say goodbye now.

_ His only reward. _

“Understood.” Velen gave a nod. The old draenei turned away.

“Velen,” Illidan paused him. “Khadgar will not understand the last message. Tell him not to pry. It is… intimate.” Illidan touched Leo’s pout, then brought his head to hers again. “It was for you,” he told her. She had changed his life. The crystal would have told her how significant she was to him.

“You _ meant _ to leave me here?” Leo’s lip quivered again. _ “After everything?” _

Illidan pressed his lips to her small face. _ “It is not so, _ now,” he assured. He held both her hands in one of his and stood, collecting his warglaives in the other. 

“Walk in the Light, my friends.” Velen imparted a final blessing. Illidan turned his head with a smile. Wherever the Prophet’s path led, he hoped it satisfied.

Illidan gave his smile to Leo, now, squeezing her hand as he led her to his destiny. He had a long end in store.

But he would not meet it alone. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The End~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Author's Note:**

> If you like this story and wish to find me on WoW, Leopoldanna is on Moon Guard, and I am presently making new Leo's on various other realms. My Blizz ID is: newjester #1536 I hope to see you there soon!


End file.
